Fresh off a new valuation and name, Collectors Holdings Inc. has made its third headquarters expansion at the same Santa Ana office park, this time its largest to date.
The company—previously called Collectors Universe Inc.—recently inked a deal to add another 102,000 square feet at the Pacific Center office complex not far from the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway, bringing its total footprint at the two-building campus to nearly 287,000 square feet.
Ross Bourne and Dave Desper of CBRE Group Inc. represented the San Francisco-based landlord, Drawbridge Realty, in the deal; Taylor Wood at Savills represented Collectors.
The lease runs 15 years and includes space at both 1600 and 1610 Saint Andrew Place.
It’s among the largest office lease expansions seen in Orange County the past year.
“Pacific Center offers a low-rise environment with large floor plates, flexibility for multiple uses, and over-standard parking, which is very difficult to find anywhere in the market. All of these factors make it a perfect home for the expansion of Collectors Universe today and well into the future,” Bourne said in a statement.
Latest Expansion
The authenticator of baseball cards and other memorabilia occupied about 60,000 square feet at the complex in 2020 and has been quickly ramping up its presence there since amid a surge in interest in the collectibles market during the pandemic.
About two years ago, the firm doubled its footprint at the campus, and last April, it leased an additional 58,000 square feet.
The physical expansion follows an internal one.
The firm was taken private in February 2021 by a group of investors who paid $853 million for the company; in March, these same investors, who include the owner of the New York Mets and professional athletes such as Kevin Durant, invested another $100 million in the growing business.
The value one year later: $4.3 billion, according to company officials.
Loan Firm Downsizing
Collectors is taking over space at the Santa Ana complex last used by loan servicing company Mr. Cooper, which state records indicate has been cutting jobs in recent months.
Drawbridge said it negotiated an early lease termination with Mr. Cooper, which was looking to downsize its facilities in advance of its lease term maturing next year.
Drawbridge bought the nearly 490,000-square-foot Pacific Center complex in 2019 for a reported $98 million.
No Longer Niche
“The growth of the business is significant,” Chief Financial Officer Jason Harinstein told the Business Journal in April.
The company has grown from $105 million in sales in calendar 2020 to more than $300 million last year, Harinstein said. In Collectors’ three prior fiscal years, sales hovered around $40 million.
In addition to increasing square footage, the company is looking to add employees. It wants to double its headcount from 1,000 at the end of last year to 2,000.
“We’re continuing to attract top-tier talent from really significant companies. There are a lot of people out there passionate about collecting,” Harinstein said. “This isn’t a small niche cottage industry anymore. There’s a lot of capital and revenue flowing through the business. Now it’s a booming empire.”
In addition to Santa Ana, the company has a growing operational presence in New Jersey. n