The Irvine Company is said to be ready to return to high-rise office building, with twin 14-story towers planned for the Irvine Spectrum, according to city and real estate sources.
The Irvine Co. is planning 630,000 square feet of space at two towers across from the company’s Irvine Spectrum Center mall.
Construction could start late this year or early next, even before a tenant is secured, according to sources familiar with the project.
The Irvine Co. declined to comment for this story.
The last time the Newport Beach-based real estate company put up high-rises was in 1989. That year it built the 15-story building at 8105 Irvine Center Drive, the former Irvine Spectrum home of Lake Forest’s Western Digital Corp., and the Spectrum’s other tower at 8001 Irvine Center Drive.
Plans for the towers should go before Irvine’s Planning Commission in July or August, according to Tim Gehrich, principal planner with the city.
As planned, the towers would mark the most bold endorsement yet of the office market’s comeback. Late last year, the Irvine Co. detailed plans to build 270,000 square feet of low-rise office space in the Irvine Technology Center near the Tustin border.
The Irvine Co. is seen as a pacesetter for other developers, who could come forth with towers of their own, brokers said.
“Whoever has the guts and wherewithal to build should do it,” said Royce Sharf, executive vice president in the Irvine office of New York-based brokerage Studley Inc.
For more on this story, see the May 9 edition of the Business Journal.
