Rivian Automotive Inc. has been rapidly expanding its real estate portfolio inside—and outside—of Orange County since relocating its headquarters from Michigan to Irvine last year.
Documents pertaining to the initial public offering on tap for the electric vehicle maker show the firm counts a real estate portfolio nearing 5 million square feet of owned and leased properties across the United States and internationally.
Inside OC, the company’s fast-growing portfolio of almost 400,000 square feet gives it the second-largest local real estate presence of any car or truck manufacturer, behind Hyundai North America.
As of the end of September, Rivian leased almost 1.2 million square feet in office properties and owned an additional 3.8 million square feet of office and manufacturing space in California, Michigan, Illinois, Arizona, Canada and the United Kingdom.
OC Digs
The Amazon-backed firm, which publicly filed its IPO paperwork Oct. 1, counted under 50,000 square feet in Irvine at the start of 2020 before signing a number of leases to significantly ramp up its local presence.
The company’s headquarters at 14600 Myford Road spans roughly 186,000 square feet; it also leases about 64,000 square feet at 117-119 Waterworks Way in the Spectrum submarket, and has a large facility in Tustin, near its headquarters, real estate brokerage data indicates.
Leases for its largest Irvine-area operations expire in 2025, according to regulatory filings for the IPO.
In May, Rivian closed on the purchase of the historic Laguna Beach South Coast Cinemas for $10.7 million, with plans to remake the property along Coast Highway into a showroom-like space complete with a coffee bar, screenings and events in addition to opportunities for test drives.
Rivian’s plan for the space—to be called A Rivian Experience Center—includes restoring the theater as a community landmark that will be used for public programming.
The maker of SUVs, pickup trucks and Amazon delivery vans also has plans for its first service center in Orange County.
Rivian filed paperwork in August for a 32,000-square-foot Rivian Service Center at 261-263 Briggs Ave. in Costa Mesa.
Normal Factory
Outside of OC, Rivian has spent the past several years overhauling a 600-acre site in Normal, Ill. into a manufacturing factory.
The site has an estimated production capacity of 150,000 units annually, according to the IPO documents.
Rivian began commercial production of the R1T truck last month, and expects to start production of the R1S SUV and electric vans in December.
A second manufacturing facility is said to be under consideration, with Texas and Arizona reported to be in the running.
