The Irvine Company is considering doubling down on its high-rise office development plans in the Irvine Spectrum.
The Newport Beach-based real estate owner and developer has filed plans with the city to build another tower next to its Spectrum shopping center, this time in the 400 block of Spectrum Center Drive.
The proposed tower would run 20 stories and 450,000 square feet, according to city documents.
Those specifications mirror the plans initially filed for the under-construction 200 Spectrum Center building, which will become the area’s tallest and largest office building upon its completion.
Irvine Co. now lists that building, which is slated to open in about a year, as being 21 stories tall and 425,000 square feet.
Other towers in the Spectrum top out at 15 stories.
A time frame for the 400 Spectrum building’s construction hasn’t been disclosed. The project still needs the city’s sign-off before proceeding.
The new tower would apparently go up on land to the north of the Spectrum shopping center that’s now used as a surface parking lot for the 300 Spectrum Center Drive office tower, which Irvine Co. owns.
Parking Structure
Plans also are in the works to build a parking structure for the existing office at 300 Spectrum Center, according to city filings.
A hearing involving that structure is expected to be taken up by Irvine’s planning commission later this month.
Irvine Co. officials declined to comment on the proposed 400 Spectrum office building’s plans or a potential start date.
Real estate sources expect Irvine Co. would need to get a fair amount of leasing for its 200 Spectrum Center tower before turning its attention to another project.
No leases have been announced at that building, which will feature large glass windows and prominent steel window frames, a marked shift from the other stone-clad towers in the area.
The developer—Orange County’s dominant landlord—owns four existing office towers in the Spectrum area that total about 1.3 million square feet. Those are more than 95% leased on a cumulative basis, according to brokerage data.
The 200 Spectrum tower is the first built in the Spectrum since 2007, when Irvine Co. wrapped up work on its 20 and 40 Pacifica offices. Those buildings are 15 stories each and total about 630,000 square feet combined.
Office Development
Irvine Co. is the largest office owner in California, with a nearly 500-building portfolio.
It also has been one of the state’s most active office developers over the past two years, with projects moving ahead in a number of its core markets, including Newport Beach, Silicon Valley and San Diego.
Office development is just one product type Irvine Co. is looking to expand in the Spectrum area.
Other projects listed in city filings as being in the works include a new phase of apartment development at Irvine Co.’s Los Olivos community. The development would apparently add 1,950 more apartments to the area.
The first phase of Los Olivos, built on the former site of the Wild Rivers Waterpark, totals about 1,750 rental units and is the largest apartment project in Orange County’s history.
On the retail front, a 120,000-square-foot extension of the Los Olivos shopping center is under way and will feature a 40,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market as its anchor.
That retail project is expected to finish up early next year.
