While low to mid-rise buildings may be the darlings of the office sector in post-pandemic Orange County, some tenants are signaling there’s still demand for high-rise offices.
The latest sign of strength for the airport area’s collection of high-rise offices is a move by Newport Beach-based Alliant Insurance Services to lease the top two floors of a 10-story building within the Irvine Towers office complex.
The 48,944-square-foot lease at 18100 Von Karman Ave.—the newest building at the five-office complex—is the second notable deal of late for the high-rise office complex near John Wayne Airport, following a move by reverse mortgage firm American Advisors Group (AAG) to expand its presence there.
Irvine Co. owns the multi-tower office complex at the intersection of Michelson Drive and Von Karman Avenue.
New HQ
Alliant Insurance, the largest insurance broker based in Orange County, is relocating from a 52,590-square-foot space at 1301 Dove St., a 10-story office down the street from Irvine Towers, just over the city line in Newport Beach.
Madison, N.J.-based Prudential Real Estate Investors acquired that 202,000-square-foot office in 2015 for nearly $73 million, about $360 per square foot.
Alliant’s Irvine Tower lease kicks off during the fourth quarter and runs five years.
Its new digs are for the space formerly occupied by Advantage Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: ADV), which recently relocated to a smaller, low-rise building at Irvine Co.’s Lakeview Business Center elsewhere in the city.
AAG Move
The Business Journal reported in June on AAG’s footprint at Irvine Towers, where it has been a tenant since 2018.
The country’s largest reverse mortgage lender consolidated and relocated its Orange headquarters to Irvine Towers, where it now counts some 90,000 square feet.
AAG occupies space in the 18100 Von Karman building where Alliant is moving, as well as four floors in the 18200 Von Karman building.
Irvine Co.
Irvine Co. is one of many area landlords that has been bullish on the low-rise office trend, recently debuting the first phase of its Innovation Office Park.
The project will ultimately span 1.1 million square feet. The just-wrapped first phase totals 300,000 square feet across eight two-story buildings.
Still, the landlord maintains there is sustained demand for office towers, as the two recent deals suggests.
The company also points to nearly full occupancy for its two newest towers at 200 and 400 Spectrum Center, which opened a few years ago.
