COMMERCIAL
The Irvine Co., which not too long ago pushed some rents in its high-rise Newport Center office buildings in Newport Beach past the $4-per-square-foot threshold, the highest in Orange County, is aiming for as much as $4.60 per square foot these days.
As some of the bigger spaces in some of the buildings ringing Fashion Island and offering views of the Pacific Ocean come due for renegotiation, a brokerage source said, Orange County’s dominant land and office-building owner will push aggressively to hit the higher mark. With an office portfolio of more than 7 million square feet, the bulk of it in Orange County, the Irvine Co. traditionally has been one of the county’s more aggressive landlords and market setters.
Indeed, word on the street is that the Irvine Co. is hiking rates in all of its properties, whether they be office, industrial or retail.
Irvine Co. officials declined to comment.
Balboa Instruments Takes Larger Space
Balboa Instruments, a spa control designer and manufacturer, has signed a seven-year, $8 million lease for 120,000 square feet of R & D; space at the Irvine Business Complex in Tustin.
Balboa Instruments, which had been housed in approximately 90,000 square feet in five buildings in Costa Mesa, will use the move to consolidate into one building. The company will utilize the extra space as it looks to expand its product line and customer base. The company also will hire additional employees as it seeks to bring in-house certain functions it had been outsourcing.
“They’re growing like a weed,” said John Rothwell, a broker with the Newport Beach office of Daum Commercial Real Estate who represented Balboa Instruments in the transaction. “They’ve been adding an awful lot of people.”
Colliers Seeley’s Tim Joyce and Mike Hartel represented the landlord, C2H2 Ltd.
Kudo for CdM Plaza
The Irvine Co.’s Corona del Mar Plaza in Newport Beach has been awarded a “Certificate of Merit” by the International Council of Shopping Centers. Designed by San Diego architectural firm Altevers Associates, the 100,000-square foot plaza, which opened in August 1998, was one of 15 honorees from among entries received from around the world in the “Innovative Design and Construction of New Project” category.
Anaheim Lures Fullerton Toyota
Score one for Anaheim.
Fullerton Toyota has signed a 15-year, $6 million lease for 67,433 square feet of space at a newly constructed facility at 1331 N. Euclid Ave. in Anaheim. Dealerships are among the small businesses most coveted by cities, because of the sales taxes they generate.
Allen M. Segal of Collins Commercial represented soon-to-be-south-of-Fullerton Toyota.
Wentz Gets Two Jobs
The Irvine Co. has selected The L.W. Wentz Co. to construct the 182,000-square-foot Oakcreek Business Center in Irvine. The project,four 2-story concrete tilt-up buildings,is expected to be completed in the fall. Meanwhile, Crown Realty and Development has awarded the contract for construction of the 180,000-square-foot Xerox Centre II office complex in Santa Ana to Wentz. The project, consisting of a six-story office building and a 660-car parking garage, is expected to break ground in October with completion anticipated in May 2002.
Deals:
David Arnold has purchased the 57,334-square-foot Dolphin Business Center office park in Lake Forest for $6.1 million from Dolphin ’97 LLC. Mark Larson and Gary Stache of CB Richard Ellis represented Arnold, while Marcus & Millichap represented the seller Johnson Capital Group has arranged acquisition financing of $5.9 million for Layton, Belling and Associates’ purchase of the 47,088-square-foot Met-Rx building in Irvine. Elrob Inc. has purchased the 110,220-square-foot Kilroy Garden Grove facility at 12691 Monarch St. in Garden Grove for $6.4 million from Kilroy Realty. The company will house two subsidiaries, El-Com/Cabletek and El-Com/Hardware, in the center. Bob Goodmanson and Scott Smith of CB Richard Ellis’ Anaheim office represented Kilroy.
RESIDENTIAL
Ladera Ranch has closed escrow on the sale of its second phase of homes, which totals 960 lots, to nine homebuilders.
Centex Homes, D.R. Horton, Greystone Homes, John Laing Homes, K. Hovnanian Homes, Richmond American Homes, Taylor-Woodrow Homes, Warmington Homes and William Lyon Homes have been tapped to build the second phase homes at Ladera Ranch.
John Laing, Taylor Woodrow, Warmington and Lyon already have projects in Ladera Ranch, having purchased lots in the first phase.
Rancho Mission Viejo LLC, headed by Tony Moiso, is developing the 4,000-acre, 8,100-unit Ladera Ranch east of Mission Viejo in South Orange County. Phoenix-based DMB Consolidated Holdings LLC has partnered with Moiso and is providing the financing.
