Office
As the Orange County office market showed signs of settling in the beginning of 2001, construction remained active. Approximately 640,000 square feet were added to the office base in the first quarter as development wrapped up on 22 buildings, contained within nine new complexes. Nearly 89% of the construction completed was in South Orange County, including portions of the Discovery Business Center, Safari Technology Park and Oak Creek Business Center in the Irvine Spectrum. Also in South Orange County are Ocean Ranch Village II in Laguna Niguel, Bake Office Plaza in Lake Forest, and Pacific View Corporate Center in San Clemente. The remainder of the first quarter completions were in the Airport Area, including the Airport Corporate Center, and the first two buildings of the Jeffrey Corporate Center. One new project, the three-building South Coast Metro Center, broke ground in Costa Mesa during January, adding 500,000 square feet to the development activity in the market.
Industrial
Development activity in the Orange County industrial market increased to 1.7 million square feet in the first quarter. Construction on eight M & W; projects broke ground within the first three months of this year, including Cypress Corporate Park, Gothard Distribution Center in Huntington Beach, Bedrosian Freeway Business Park in Anaheim, Gateway Corporate Center in Santa Ana and the Brookhollow Business Park in Rancho Santa Margarita. Total construction under way in Orange County reached 1.7 million square feet as the first quarter came to a close, 93% of which was M & W; construction.
Retail
Retail development in Orange County continues with new construction and expansion of existing centers. During the first quarter of 2001, Phase III of the Marketplace in central Orange County completed construction adding 425,000 square feet to the popular power center bordering the cities of Tustin and Irvine. Retail construction activity was strongest in the South Orange County in the first quarter where one new power center broke ground in Rancho Santa Margarita, adding 150,000 square feet to the construction already underway in that market. The expansion of Foothill Ranch Towne Center Phase II and the third phase of the Irvine Spectrum Entertainment Center carries on into the second and third quarter of this year, as well as the development of Plaza Pacifica in San Clemente and a new neighborhood center in Ladera Ranch.
Analysis provided by CB Richard Ellis’ Global Research and Consulting.
