KKE Architects Opens Newport Beach Office; Expects to Double Staff
Minneapolis-based KKE Architects Inc. recently opened a Newport Beach office to tap its growing client base in the Southland.
The Newport Beach office opened at 20321 Southwest Birch St. in June and counts 10 workers, including five architects. It is forecasting $1.3 million in revenue for this year.
Company officials expect to double its OC employment count within a year and forecast $2.5 million in sales in 2003.
KKE expects $25 million of company-wide revenue this year. The company has 200 workers.
The Orange County office is KKE’s third nationwide. The company also has an office in Dallas.
The Newport Beach office’s managing principal is Brian Arial.
He said that KKE architects from Minnesota had been spending a lot of time with clients on the West Coast.
“The quality of life in the area had really attracted them, especially Newport Beach,” Arial said.
KKE clients here include Marriott International Inc., Target Corp. and Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based Kohl’s Corp., which has 30 department stores planned for Southern California.
Kohl’s bought 5.5 acres in Rancho Santa Margarita last year and is building a 93,000-square-foot store there, its first in the state.
The store is set to open in March.
Other clients include Marriott hotel projects in the region.
Arial expects competition from rival architectural firms like Alameda-based MBH Architects and Long Beach-based Perkowitz + Ruth Architects Inc.,both firms have Newport Beach offices.
KKE Architects has become one of the top 30 architectural firms in the country, as ranked by Building Design & Construction magazine in July 2002.
,Chris Cziborr
