The Irvine Company is dusting off plans to build a sixth high-rise office building at its Jamboree Center in Irvine.
The 12-story building could have up to 150,000 square feet of office space.
Jamboree Center is home to units of Toyota Motor Corp., MetLife Inc. and ACC Capital Holdings, parent of Ameriquest Mortgage Co.
The site runs alongside the San Diego (I-405) Freeway and holds about 1.6 million square feet of office space.
The 536-room Hyatt Regency Irvine is part of the office campus.
Plans call for the tower to be built at 2900 Main St., the southwest corner of Main and Union streets. It would be next to two other 12-story buildings, which are about 214,000 square feet each.
Another three office buildings at Jamboree Center run about 400,000 square feet each. They are 20 stories tall.
The company doesn’t expect to have trouble finding tenants to fill the building.
“There are only a few large blocks of office space available” in OC, said Irvine Co. spokesman Bill Rams.
The company’s proposal was submitted to city planners about a week ago. It could take about three months for the Irvine Co. to get the necessary permits from the city, providing there aren’t any major snags, said Tim Gehrich, principal planner for the city of Irvine.
The five office buildings at Jamboree Center were built by the Irvine Co. from 1986 to 1991. The hotel went up in 1985.
The fifth tower built in 1991 marked the last office high-rise that the Irvine Co. has put up in OC. Earlier this year it broke its dry spell when construction started on twin high-rise office buildings in the Spectrum at 20 and 40 Pacifica.
Monthly rents at Jamboree Center average about $3.25 per square foot per month, according to CoStar Group Inc. The complex has a vacancy rate of about 8%.
Construction Heating Up
An expansion at Jamboree Center would be the fourth OC office tower that the Irvine Co. has committed to building this year.
Other Irvine Co. high-rise plans include the 20-40 Pacifica project. The two buildings total about 630,000 square feet.
Closer to John Wayne Airport is a 10-story, 231,178-square-foot building at Irvine Center Towers.
The Irvine Co. bought the Irvine Center Towers office complex earlier this year, picking up the rights to build the high-rise from the previous owner.
Others also have plans to build high-rise office space after years of sitting on the sidelines. The developers are looking to take advantage of surging office rental rates and historically low vacancies.
Developments include Hines Interest LP’s 261,400-square-foot building at 2211 Michelson Drive, Maguire Properties Inc.’s 550,000-square-foot tower at the Park Place office complex in Irvine and Opus West Corp.’s 313,000-square-foot building at its Opus Center Irvine complex on Main Street.
In Santa Ana, Michael Harrah’s Caribou Industries Inc. is looking to line up tenants and financing for his 600,000-square-foot tower, One Broadway Plaza.
At 37stories, One Broadway Plaza would be OC’s tallest office building. Harrah’s development agreement with the city calls for him to prelease half of One Broadway Plaza before construction starts.
