Maguire Properties Inc.’s Park Place office tower is a go.
After some permit delays, the Los Angeles-based real estate investment trust tweaked its design plans to get final approvals for what now will be a 530,000-square-foot tower at its Irvine campus.
Construction is moving ahead at the site on Michelson Drive next to the San Diego (I-405) Freeway. A late 2007 opening is expected.
“Piles are being driven,” said William Flaherty, senior vice president of leasing and marketing for Maguire.
After talks with the Federal Aviation Administration, Maguire decided to cut the size of the building by two floors and about 70,000 square feet.
The building now is set to be 20 floors (actually 19 floors,there won’t be a 13th story). Despite the reductions in size and height, it’s still the largest office tower set for construction in the county for now. The project also includes about 1.3 million square feet of parking space.
FAA concerns over the height of the tower were behind the delays. The agency has to sign off on all construction that could interfere with flights to and from John Wayne Airport.
The change in size doesn’t affect leases for two tenants that are signed up for space at the building.
Irvine-based subprime lender New Century Financial Corp. plans to take 190,000 square feet. The local office of Los Angeles-based law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is taking 80,000 square feet.
Maguire isn’t worried about a subprime lender taking so much space. Much of the industry is struggling with a slowdown, though New Century is faring better than many.
“There is no out” in New Century’s lease, Flaherty said. “We have no concerns at the moment.”
The Park Place tower isn’t the only building suddenly on the fast track for Maguire.
The company plans to break ground next quarter on a 150,000-square-foot building at its Washington Mutual campus in Irvine.
The fifth, and final, building at the 16-acre campus is set to be five stories.
The campus now holds about 415,600 square feet of space, most of it held by Washington Mutual Inc.
Maguire is in talks with a potential tenant that could take up a majority of the space at the Washington Mutual building.
If that falls through, the building would still be built on a speculative basis, Flaherty said.
Steel has been ordered and is stored, which should make for quicker-than-normal construction, Flaherty said.
More Small Buildings
Costa Mesa’s Guthrie Development Co. has started construction on another business park with small industrial buildings for sale.
The latest project, called Freeway Crossroads, is a 22-building park in Anaheim on seven acres near Kramer Boulevard and La Palma Avenue.
The buildings range in size from 4,290 to 25,186 square feet. The total size of the project is 140,000 square feet. It should be open by September, according to Rob Guthrie, president of the development company.
Ben Seybold, Zachary Niles and Sean Ward of CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. are marketing the project, which will be able to accommodate industrial, office and showroom uses.
Prices haven’t been disclosed. Similar buildings have sold for about $170 per square foot.
New Century Financial, which is on fire by the standards of the limping subprime industry, has hired a vice president of loan production, Anthony Meola.
He’s reporting to Vice Chairman Brad Morrice, who is replacing Robert Cole as chief executive of the Irvine-based real estate investment trust in July.
Most recently, Meola was executive vice president of mortgage banking production for Washington Mutual’s consumer group, where he was responsible for retail, wholesale and correspondent lending operations.
Going Condo
Another set of apartments is going condominium.
Canyon Point, a 124-apartment complex in Aliso Viejo, is being turned into condos following its sale.
CRS Inc. of San Diego paid $36 million for the six-acre complex. Chicago-based Moran & Co.’s Costa Mesa office represented the seller, a private investor.
Plans are for CRS to sell the apartments starting at $410,000. The complex, built in 1998, has 56 one-bedroom apartments and 68 with two bedrooms. Sizes range from 845 square feet to 1,235 square feet.
Some work has started on the complex to ready for the condo conversion. Sales of the apartments are under way.
Condo Exec
Condo tower and office developer Fifield Realty Co. has added an executive to its Irvine office.
Jack Bousquet joined the company as vice president of design and construction. He used to work for Kor Group and TrizecHahn Development Corp.
Bousquet has worked on Disney’s California Adventure theme park and the Mighty Ducks practice facility.
Fifield is based in Chicago. Expect to see more of an emphasis on Southern California. The company has a big condo tower going up on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles and is expected to be the first developer to break ground on a 250-unit condo tower in Costa Mesa.
