A majority of Tustin Legacy’s 1,580 acres of land have yet to see construction begin in earnest, but that hasn’t stopped some of the officials behind development at the former Marine helicopter base from calling the project a success.
More than 4,000 jobs have been created out of the project so far, primarily construction-related, said Christine Shingleton, Tustin’s assistant city manager.
Once the project is complete, more than 24,000 jobs will have been generated,thanks in part to Aliso Viejo-based Shea Properties’ ramp-up of commercial development.
It will be the highest job-creating redevelopment project of any former military base in the country, Shingleton said, speaking at an event earlier this month sponsored by the Orange County chapter of the Commercial Real Estate Women Network.
Some 2,100 homes have been built so far at the base, and last year saw the opening of the 1 million-square-foot shopping center The District at Tustin Legacy.
The city received about a 2% cut on all gross home sales at the site, and gets a percentage of rental income from The District for the next 20 years.
Negotiations with Tustin over The District were the toughest that Phoenix-based Vestar Development Co. has had with a city, according to Richard Kuhle, president of the retail developer.
“But it’s the best piece of land” the company’s ever had, he said.
Another challenge at The District was landing tenants that weren’t already tied to high-end spots like South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island.
The company opted to grab “mid-market” tenants such as Whole Foods, Costco and Lowe’s as anchors, Kuhle said.
Projections are calling for about 18 million visitors at The District this year. That would place the 1 million-square-foot property among the top 10% to 15% of retail centers in the country in terms of visitors.
Once construction is complete and traffic issues around the center are resolved, Vestar is expecting about 22 million visitors per year.
Shea Properties and sister company Shea Homes of Walnut have put $60 million into developing the 820-acre Legacy Park.
Recent work includes the removal of some 100,000 tons of jet fuel found on site,an unexpected event set to cost about $4.5 million.
About $800 million worth of road and sewer work will eventually be done at Legacy Park, according to Simon Whitney, senior vice president for Shea Properties.
When complete, Legacy Park should have an assessed value of nearly $3.5 billion, he said.
Dolinka Lease
Dolinka Group LLC, a public finance and facilities planning consulting company, is the latest big lease signed at The Irvine Company’s 20 Pacifica office tower.
The company signed a 10-year, 20,000-square-foot lease at the 15-story office in the Spectrum. It plans to move into the space in the fourth quarter.
Dolinka will be moving its headquarters from the John Wayne Airport area. It had been based in Newport Beach at 1301 Dove St.
Leland Bruce, Mitch Lundquist and Garrick Shupe from the Irvine office of the Staubach Co. represented Dolinka in the lease.
The Irvine Co. was represented by Gary Gerson.
It’s the second full-floor lease announced at 20 Pacifica, which opened its doors last year. The Irvine Co. signed UBS Financial Services Inc. for 20,600 square feet in October.
PacLife Opens Doors
Pacific Life Insurance Co. has taken the wraps off its nine-story building in Aliso Viejo.
The 248,806-square-foot building now counts about 1,000 employees. It serves as the headquarters for the company’s life insurance division, whose employees had been split between offices in Foothill Ranch and Pacific Life’ main headquarters in Newport Center.
Other than the views from the top floor and the big humpback whale sculpture at its entrance, notable features to the building include a second-floor conference room named after former chief executive and current chairman Tom Sutton, and a first-floor cafeteria with headphone jacks at all the tables for employees to listen to the television without distracting others.
The building was designed by Irvine’s Ware Malcomb Architects.
Aliso Viejo’s Parker Properties Inc. acted as the project’s development manager and Irvine’s Snyder Langston was the project’s general contractor.
Construction of the building was completed in a little more than a year.
