The Irvine office of Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. plans to bring a 383,250-square-foot office campus to one of Orange County’s prime, undeveloped parcels.
Anaheim officials have approved the office project on 24.5 acres behind the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. Officials at Trammell Crow, which owns the property, were unavailable for comment. But a source said the developer was “due to close on the project in the next week or so.”
The project passed through the Planning Commission unopposed in March and received a thumbs-up from the City Council this month.
“It’s completely approved,” said city planner Ted White. “And at last week’s City Council meeting, they abandoned some easement (issues), bringing the project that much closer to fruition.”
Representatives from the Pond and nearby Edison International Field also have reviewed the plans for potential snags over traffic, construction and parking, White said.
According to White, the only step remaining is a final site plan review.
Although a construction date and potential tenants are sketchy at this point, initial reports on the project call for three, two-story office buildings. Each structure would total 127,750 square feet and form an L around a central plaza area and parking lot.
Additional parking would be provided on the property’s perimeter with the plan calling for 1,619 parking spaces, exceeding the four spots for each 1,000 square feet of space required by the city code.
Located in the heart of Anaheim’s sports district, the parcel at 1460 S. Douglass Road has an interesting history. The site is bordered to the north by a rail line and horse stables, to the south by the Pond, to the east by Pond parking and to the west by private parking. Through the years, the property has undergone myriad zoning changes.
At one time, the space was designated residential/agricultural. In 1998, the property was reclassified for commercial development, and plans were to construct a 982,000-square-foot, mixed-use center, including a 10-story and two six-story office buildings.
That plan expired in February, and the Trammell Crow project was brought to the table. The property has been vacant since Orange Tree Mobilehome Park moved out, nearly four years ago.
The proposed project has its potential risks. The office campus would enter a low-rise market that is soft, according to Lonnie Riddle, a senior vice president with the real estate advisory group at Grubb & Ellis Co.’s Anaheim office.
“There’s a flat and even negative demand for space, and there’s ample space for tenants in existing buildings,” Riddle said.
Landlords have been dropping rates, too, with the John Wayne Airport area and South County seeing the brunt of the reductions. But the central part of the county, including Anaheim, has been the strongest OC submarket, Riddle said. n
