Tustin-based Scantron Corp. has signed a $13.7 million, 10-year lease for 110,000 square feet of space at 34 Parker in the Irvine Spectrum where it plans to relocate from Tustin.
The company, a unit of Atlanta-based John H. Harland Co. that makes student test forms and other products, plans to start moving in January after improvements are made to the building. Scantron expects to complete its relocation by the middle of April.
“We have outgrown our current facility and look forward to growth in our new product line,” said Larry Tucholski, vice president of operations at Scantron.
Irvine-based Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. used to occupy the space before consolidating earlier this year.
Scantron now occupies a 64,000-square-foot office space in Tustin. It is a major player in scanning equipment, advanced survey software and services and products for the collection, management and interpretation of data.
Tucholski said that Scantron has recently launched new products that that could fuel its growth and boost staffing requirements. He said that Scantron has added around 20 people to support the new products and will add more as demand picks up.
The company also recently consolidated its Dallas operations with those in Tustin. The Dallas office housed a printing and distribution operation for forms and documents. Approximately 300 of the company’s 600 employees worldwide are set to be housed at the new facility.
The lease is believed to be Orange County’s largest research and development space transaction this year. The lease rate is slightly more than $1 per square foot per month, much lower than what some technology companies paid a couple of years back in the Irvine Spectrum.
But because of the collapse in dot-com companies and troubles at other tech businesses, the Spectrum has abundant space available. Scantron also is picking up a few bargains from the dot-com ashes in the way of furniture and equipment.
“We are going into this new place and we want to look good,” Tucholski said. “It’s no secret out there that because of the dot-com crash you can get some great deals on real high-dollar furniture.”
Tucholski said that besides the launch of new products, the company also is buying some new equipment that would require more space. The new office will house the management, administrative and sales operations. Scantron also will make most of its products at the new building in Irvine.
“We are getting in some new equipment” that will require additional space, said Tucholski. “The equipment will be high-volume and we will able to produce more with the same amount of people.”
Cushman & Wakefield represented Scantron, while the landlord, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., was represented by Trent Walker and Sam Olmstead of the Voit Co. n
