One of the last developers of small buildings for sale in the Irvine Spectrum is in escrow to sell all 27 properties under construction there.
Newport Beach-based The Koll Co. is developing a $27 million, office and light-industrial park dubbed Koll Center. The buildings are set to range from 3,000 to 7,000 square feet.
The company, headed by Donald Koll, is wrapping up construction on the last of the one- and two-story buildings on an 8.9-acre site at the corner of Irvine Center Drive and Scientific Way.
Escrow closings are expected to start in August as construction is completed, according to the developer.
The entire project should total 140,000 square feet.
Early last year I wrote a story about The Irvine Company halting sales of land in the Spectrum to developers of small buildings for sale. The move cut developers off from a profit center.
Koll was one of the last to buy land there. One other final developer is a partnership between Steven Bren, son of Irvine Co. owner Donald Bren, and Santa Ana’s Nexus Cos.
Last August the partners bought 13 acres from the Irvine Co. with an eye to building 24 small office buildings in the Irvine Spectrum. Two of the buildings are being divided into 27 small office “condominiums.”
As for the Koll Co., it’s selling buildings to several companies, according to Alan Airth, a managing principal who directed the project’s development.
Airth said buyers are involved in importing and exporting, electrical contracting, computers, printing, aerospace, heating and air conditioning contracting, garment distribution and real estate development.
Pro Audio and Lighting is one of the buyers. President and owner Michael Ivey said his company previously leased separate space for its offices and warehouse near John Wayne Airport in Irvine.
“Koll Center enabled us to combine our offices and warehouse into a single, extremely professional environment,” Ivey said.
On a separate note, I never got a call from Donald Koll after we dropped him from our annual OC 50 this year. The section profiles the 50 most influential men and women in Orange County. It’s entirely subjective.
Koll was one of the key players in developing OC’s commercial base. His company still is doing notable projects, but nothing like the go-go days of yore. Besides, Koll lives in Los Angeles. We dropped him in favor of Peter Shea Jr. of the J.F. Shea Co.
It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to understand why Roland Arnall appears close to settling with various state attorneys general over the alleged wrongdoings at units of his Orange-based Ameriquest Capital Corp.
Arnall surely wants to avoid, or at least limit, the kind of public criticism that befell George Argyros after President Bush nominated him to be ambassador to Spain and Andorra back in 2001.
Perhaps Bush told Arnall to resolve his legal woes before going before the Senate, which will vote on his nomination to be ambassador to the Netherlands.
On the same day last month that Bush announced the nomination, Arnall’s Ameriquest Mortgage Co. said in a statement it has set aside $325 million as “representing its best estimate of the ultimate financial liability” in the investigations.
Last month I called a couple of attorneys general’s offices, including that of California’s Bill Lockyer. A couple of media spokesmen said there was no settlement yet but advised me to try back in a couple weeks.
Attorneys general in several states are investigating Ameriquest Mortgage and its sister companies Bedford Home Loans Inc. and Town & Country Credit Corp.
At issue is whether staff at these companies crossed ethical and legal lines by doing whatever it took to close loans, including fraud, and by changing loan terms at the last minute, costing borrowers more than initially promised.
Back in the day, Argyros agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle an investigation by California’s attorney general into allegations that his company, Costa Mesa-based Arnel & Affiliates, had withheld security deposits from renters without cause.
Argyros eventually was confirmed by the Senate.
Both Argyros and Arnall have been big donors to Bush in the past.
While large, Arnall’s possible settlement of $325 million would not be the largest in the subprime lending industry’s history.
That dubious record belongs to Household Financial Corp., now part of London-based HSBC Holdings PLC, which paid $484 million in 2002.
