Edwards Lifesciences Corp. has bought a midsized building next to its headquarters that’s under expansion in Irvine.
The Irvine-based medical device company, whose market value is nearly $24 billion and that’s Orange County’s second largest publicly traded company, completed the purchase of a two-story building this month at 1921 E. Alton Parkway.
The property is in the greater airport area near the intersection with Red Hill Avenue.
The nearly 70,000-square-foot office has a Santa Ana address but sits across the street from Edwards’ sprawling Irvine campus on Red Hill between Alton and McGaw Avenue, which is undergoing construction to accommodate the company’s growing operations.
The property sold for $18.5 million, or $273 per square foot, according to the seller, commercial real estate developer and investment firm Kelemen Caamaño Investments in Irvine.
Kelemen Caamaño paid about $14.5 million for it in 2015 when it was about 80% leased, according to property records. It’s now fully occupied. The company, one of the area’s more active creative-office redevelopment firms over the past few years, declined to disclose the buyer’s identity but said in a statement that it’s a current tenant that bought the property as an owner-user opportunity.
CoStar Group Inc. records show Edwards leases about 10,000 square feet in the building.
Edwards said it plans to renovate the building to support its continued growth in research and development in Irvine.
The building is 100% leased to a handful of companies, coin dealer and appraisal company Collectors Universe Inc. the largest with more than half of the building, which it uses for its headquarters.
Edwards will take over more space once other tenants vacate the property.
A Collectors Universe executive said in the company’s most recent earnings call with analysts that it plans to move to a larger facility around the end of the year, but didn’t specify a location.
Kelemen Caamaño was represented by Rob Rader of Wind Water Realty Inc. and Scott Read of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank in the sale. Edwards was represented by Kim Josephson of Real Tech.
650,000-SF Campus
The purchase is timely for Edwards, which reported it increased its local employee base about 5% last year to more than 4,000. It employs more than 11,000 worldwide.
The company plans to finish upgrading its Irvine headquarters campus at 1 Edwards Way this year, a multiyear project intended to modernize facilities to accommodate growth.
Changes include employee-friendly amenities, including a new on-site cafe and a walking track around Edwards’ “Central Park” that’s utilized for walking meetings and employee breaks.
The company’s existing multibuilding campus on Red Hill, which it owns, totaled about 650,000 square feet as of late last year, according to city records.
The buildings include “office/lab, manufacturing and warehouse uses, of which 42,380 square feet are dedicated to employee-serving areas, such as break rooms, lounges and dining areas,” according to city filings made in October.
The company also leases space in several other airport-area buildings, including additional ones next to the recently purchased building.
Edwards makes products for treating structural heart disease, specializing in artificial heart valves and critical care and surgical monitoring devices.
It reported $3 billion in revenue in 2016, up about 11% year-over-year, and reported a profit of $570 million, up from $123.4 million a year earlier.
