Plaza Tower in Costa Mesa, the best-known building in the office market near South Coast Plaza, has gotten a trio of new and expanding tenants that are taking more than 60,000 square feet of space combined.
The 21-story tower at 600 Anton Blvd., designed by Cesar Pelli, recently got a pair of professional services firms and another design firm to complete new leases at the steel-clad office.
The 456,000-square-foot building, part of C.J. Segerstrom & Sons’ Offices at South Coast Plaza, is now about 80% leased, according to Rob Lambert, senior director with the Irvine office of Cushman & Wakefield Inc. who handles leasing at the building along with colleague Rick Kaplan.
Philadelphia-based law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP recently completed an eight-year extension and expansion for its Orange County offices at Plaza Tower in the largest of the three leases.
The firm initially moved into the building from Irvine last year, leasing about 20,000 square feet after taking on more than 200 lawyers nationally from Boston-based Bingham McCutchen LLP.
A recently struck deal bumps Morgan Lewis’ square footage to nearly 34,000 square feet on two of the top floors.
It’s one of the largest recent office expansions by an area law firm; law firms in general have been cutting space in recent years as they shrink support staffs and libraries, among other changes.
Morgan Lewis was ranked OC’s 31st largest law firm last year, with 30 local attorneys, according to the Business Journal’s list published this month.
Its partners include Chris Cox, the former congressman and chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission who previously was with Bingham McCutchen.
The move to Plaza Tower is a return home of sorts for several Morgan Lewis partners, including managing partner Ellen Bancroft, who joined the firm about three years ago from Dorsey & Whitney LLP, which has its local offices in the same building.
One big area accounting firm has also moved to Plaza Tower: BDO USA LLP, a Chicago-based accountancy with about 140 local employees, the third most of any accounting firm in OC, according to Business Journal data.
BDO USA recently moved from the nearby Pacific Arts Plaza office complex to Plaza Tower, where it leases about 22,500 square feet.
Also new to the tower: Porsche Design of America, the U.S.-based unit of the German luxury brand designer.
The company’s 5,000-square-foot office will serve as its new U.S. headquarters and design studio.
Porsche Design Group already has a retail store, which sells an assortment of upscale goods and apparel, in addition to a vehicle-related product line for Porsche drivers at South Coast Plaza.
Full House
San Diego-based investor Westcore Properties said it closed on the purchase of the two buildings at the seven-building Village Business Park in Buena Park that it didn’t already own.
It recently completed the purchase of 7000 and 7001 Village Drive, a pair of industrial buildings next to the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway that total about 141,000 square feet.
Terms of the sale weren’t immediately disclosed. Irvine-based LBA Realty was the seller.
The deal follows Westcore’s purchase last October of five industrial, R&D and data center buildings there as part of a four-project portfolio of infill industrial properties in Southern California that it bought from MetLife for $69.4 million.
Village Business Park totals 442,283 square feet.
Westcore said it plans exterior and interior upgrades to its recently acquired buildings, which are now full but could see some vacancies this year.
Jeffrey Cole, Jeff Chiate and Ed Hernandez at Cushman & Wakefield represented LBA in the latest sale.
