New Century Financial Corp.’s signing of a hefty lease last month at Park Place in Irvine overshadowed another big deal at the same site: Los Angeles-based law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP took 80,000 square feet.
Both leases are for a proposed 20-story office tower by Maguire Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Los Angeles. Maguire has nearly half its tower at 3161 Michelson Drive booked.
The deal with subprime lender New Century for 190,000 square feet has been known for months. Gibson’s lease was a coup for Maguire.
Maguire is luring the law firm away from 4 Park Plaza, one of the white office towers at The Irvine Company’s Jamboree Center office and hotel complex in Irvine.
“Jamboree Center also is first-rate,” said Gibson partner Jeff Thomas. “But the move will give us the chance to design new and state-of-the-art offices and access to more amenities.”
Gibson is set to move its 200 employees, including 75 lawyers, to Park Place in May 2007, according to Thomas. That gives the Irvine Co. about two years to fill the gap.
“There are very few large blocks of space available in the county,” said Irvine Co. spokesman Bill Rams. “We expect to see healthy demand for the space when the firm moves.”
Maguire plans a 600,000-square-foot tower near the San Diego (405) Freeway at the northern edge of Park Place, a sprawling 105-acre office and retail campus. Its retail tenants include Wahoo’s Fish Taco, Mother’s Market & Kitchen and Houston’s Restaurant.
For more on this story, see the July 11 edition of the Business Journal.
