The Irvine Company, Orange County’s largest landlord of commercial real estate, continues its multiyear campaign of investing into flexible workspaces.
Flex+, as the Irvine Co.’s flexible workspace portfolio is called, totals 5.2 million square feet and has accounted for 20% of the company’s leasing since the program was launched in 2019. The Flex+ program offers flexible lease terms on premium “move-in ready suites” with no “upfront investment or long-term commitment,” the Newport Beach-based landlord says.
Irvine Co. invested $50 million into Flex+ in 2024 and plans to put in another $250 million into the program over the next five years.
Part of that investment includes a new floor of Flex+ suites at 7515 Irvine Center Drive in Irvine, with available spaces ranging from 2,700 to 11,000 square feet.
The new suites are part of Irvine Co.’s $9 million investment in the 10-building, 510,000-square-foot Irvine Business Center campus. The investment helped pay for rezoning the campus for research-and-development.
Other upgrades were made in the main outdoor workspaces.
The company also has more than 13,000 square feet of flexible space under construction at Pacific Arts Plaza in Costa Mesa on Anton Boulevard.
Targeting Small Businesses
The Flex+ program was launched to cater to small business. Newport Beach-based Irvine Co. said there are more than 4.1 million small businesses in California, the most in any state. Those 4.1 million companies, according to Irvine Co., account for 98% of total business and “drives two-thirds of net new jobs in the state.”
The average Flex+ space is 4,000 square feet, according to Irvine Co.
“In the overall office market, flexibility remains a top priority and Irvine Company plans to expand its Flex+ workspaces to make up 25%-plus of its total portfolio over the next 5 years,” per an Irvine Co. statement. “According to (a CBRE) survey, 24% of respondents said their current landlord’s willingness to offer more flexibility is a factor in office space renewal (and) 58% said they are seeking more flexible expansion and contraction options for new or renewed space.”
Irvine Co.’s 2025 Fiscal Year
Irvine Co. reported this month that it finished its most recent fiscal year with nearly 90% of its office portfolio leased, accounting for 10.6 million square feet. The industry standard for leased space, according to Moody’s Analytics, is 79%.
The Newport Beach-based landlord of commercial real estate properties added it invested $637 million into its office portfolio over the past 12 months. The money paid for reinvestments, operating capital, workspace improvements and amenity offerings, among other things.
Notable leases at Irvine Co.’s Orange County properties for the 2025 fiscal year include 173,000 square feet for JPMorgan Chase, 116,000 square feet for Beckton, Dickinson and Co., and 105,000 square feet for Bank of America.
