Verizon Wireless has begun moving employees into its new Sand Canyon Avenue campus, where it will consolidate its 1,800 Orange County employees. The relocation from three current sites to the five-building, 470,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed in November.
“The construction went pretty fast,” said Adolfo Reyes, Verizon Wireless director of facilities for its five-state Southwest area. “We broke ground in September 1999, and started to move on Aug. 5. We’re moving people every weekend until Nov. 17.”
Two of the complex’s five buildings are done. Three more have interior finish work and landscaping to be completed, said Jan Morris, executive director of public relations for Verizon Wireless.
Previously, Verizon Wireless employees were housed in three separate sites, including large spaces in Jamboree Center and Park Place.
Morris noted that the new campus totals a bit less than the space previously occupied by Verizon Wireless, attributing that to efficiencies generated by having all employees in one place.
“I don’t know that there’s going to be a significant increase in the number of employees,” Morris said. “There’ll be efficiencies in use of space and in getting work done. Where I’m sure we’ll be hiring is building more stores. Sales continues to be a growth area.”
Large floor plates,35,000 square feet,and custom design also contribute to efficiency, said the broker representing Verizon in the 10-year lease.
“They designed the buildings from the inside out,” said Jeff Manley, a broker with The Staubach Co. “It was ‘what do you want and let’s put the shell around it.’ The operations drove the design.”
Manley said the process started three years ago, when the company,then AirTouch Communications,reviewed its options and chose Lowe Enterprises Commercial Group to develop a new campus for consolidation.
Verizon Wireless, formed in April by a combination of the U.S. wireless businesses of Bell Atlantic Corp., GTE Corp. and Vodafone Group plc, has a 10-year lease with two 10-year options on the five buildings, Morris said.
Reyes and Morris both worked for GTE Wireless and joined the new company this summer.
Verizon also has an option with Lowe on 10 acres east and within walking distance of the new campus, said Reyes. The site could be developed with 200,000 square feet of space, he said, although the company has no formal plans for future buildings right now.
“The campus is functional for Verizon but re-leasable long-term for Lowe,” Manley said.
Reyes said the process has been functional for Verizon, as well. By moving employees piecemeal on weekends, the company has saved money on furniture and moving costs.
“This is an 18-phase project,” Reyes said. “1,800 people in 18 weeks.”
Most of the 1,800 will be in place by mid-November; about 100 will stay in one of the three old leases until early 2001.
Morris said the company also is testing an “internal metrocell” in the new campus. This allows employees on the campus,even in elevators,to use wireless devices without accessing the area network.
“There is no burden on the regular network,” Morris said. She said if it proves useful, the metrocell could work in other areas, such as shopping malls.
Morris said the Irvine site is both a regional Southern California headquarters and an area hub for California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Hawaii.
Verizon Wireless is partly owned by Verizon Communications Inc. but operated separately. The latter has 4,100 employees in Orange County supporting its own sales, telephone and directory work.
Separately, Verizon Wireless announced plans Sept. 18 to invest $550 million next year in its Southern California network. n
