It took 43 years for the government to offload Laguna Niguel’s Ziggurat building; it was first put on the market in 1983 with the marketing pitch, “Pharaoh Wanted. Pyramid for Sale,” and a reported asking price of nearly $40 million.
The first time I wrote about the property being listed for sale was 26 years later, in 2009. A $100 million asking price was cited at the time.
For Hoag Hospital, the wait was much shorter – the Newport Beach healthcare system took part in a contested government auction that was abandoned last year – and cost $30 million more than it previously expected to pay. See Joseph Pimentel and Yuika Yoshida’s front-page story for more on the long history of the iconic building, and the next steps for the nearly 90-acre South County site following the $207 million sale.
Expect a much shorter development timeline for the property, given the extensive local real estate expertise on Hoag’s board. Members include Buchanan Street Partners’ Robert Brunswick, who chairs Hoag’s board, as well as former Irvine Co. office head Doug Holte and former Irvine Co. No. 2 Dan Young, who is helping oversee the creation of the OCVibe mega-development in Anaheim.
About eight months after exiting downtown San Diego’s office market, Irvine Co. is said to be nearing the sale of another tower outside OC, this time in Chicago.
Reports out of the Windy City say the Newport Beach firm is in talks to sell one of three skyscrapers it owns in the city, the 51-story 1 N. Wacker Drive office building. Spanish multi-billionaire Amancio Ortega, the founder of fashion chain Zara, is expected to be the buyer.
Irvine Co. acquired the 1.4 million-square-foot tower, which is about 92% leased, in two separate transactions, in 2011 and 2015, for nearly $540 million, according to reports. A sale price hasn’t been disclosed; Irvine Co. sold off its collection of San Diego towers at a steep discount to what it paid for them.
Earlier this year, OC’s largest property owner said brokerage Eastdil was conducting “a comprehensive strategic review” of the Chicago tower. There’s been no reports of the company’s other two skyscrapers in the city being eyed for sale.
Irvine Co. is putting more of its funds towards apartment development, particularly in its backyard. And it’s paying top dollar to do so.
Property records indicate it paid $32.5 million – and over $25 million an acre, likely a record for the area – for the recent purchase of the Newport Beach Car Wash, adding to its holdings on the 100 block of Newport Center Drive (see the June 22 print edition for more on the deal).
An upscale apartment complex is planned for much of the block, replacing Irvine Co.’s Gateway Plaza office complex, the car wash site, and a pair of additional buildings on the block that it paid close to $54.5 million for in 2024 and 2025.
There’s one remaining office on the 100 block that Irvine Co. doesn’t own, at 180 Newport Center Dr.
