Oculus VR Inc. might not count Irvine as its headquarters any more, but the virtual reality headset maker’s influence on Orange County’s technology sector can still be seen in the buildings where its local operations are housed.
Newport Gateway, a two-tower office campus near the Irvine-Newport Beach city line, has become a technology incubator of sorts with a growing roster of tech companies—including Oculus—as tenants.
Among the latest new arrivals: Cie Digital Labs, an interactive development firm and technology startup that recently moved its headquarters from downtown Long Beach to Newport Gateway, taking a little more than 13,000 square feet at the Irvine complex (see related item, page 45).
Irvine “is quickly growing into a hub for tech startups,” said Anderee Berengian, chairman of Cie Digital, which last year had an affiliated company, Cie Games, acquired by San Francisco-based Glu Mobile Inc. for $100 million in a cash-and-stock deal.
The move to Irvine “will make it easier for us to attract quality talent, which will be important for us as we rapidly scale our core business and create new ventures,” Berengian said in a news release.
Other notable new tech tenants at the campus include Acorns Grow Inc., a mobile investment software company that’s raised more than $30 million in venture capital in a little more than a year.
Acorns—established last year by OC investment banking pioneer Walter Cruttenden and his son Jeff—occupies about 30,000 square feet at Newport Gateway.
Roughly 24% of the space at the two 14-story buildings at Newport Gateway is now leased to technology companies, including Oculus, which was founded in Irvine and was based at the campus when the company was acquired by Facebook Inc. last year for $2 billion.
Oculus had leased about 40,000 square feet at Newport Gateway at the time of its deal with Facebook; it now occupies closer to 10,000 square feet for its local engineering operations after moving much of its employee base to Silicon Valley.
Acorns Grow subleased the bulk of the space vacated at Newport Center by Oculus.
Recent Deals
Two other recent tech-focused deals at the campus this year include a nearly 14,000-square-foot lease for Mfour Mobile Research, a mobile research company currently in Costa Mesa, and Click Software Technologies Ltd., a Burlington, Mass.-based work force management software company that recently expanded local operations there and occupies nearly 10,000 square feet.
The influx of tech tenants represents a notable shift in the tenant base of Newport Gateway—which has long been a bastion for law firms, banks and other professional services firms attracted to the black-granite and glass-clad campus near the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Jamboree Road.
The complex is owned by Newport Beach-based Irvine Company, which paid an estimated $215 million for the buildings in 2006.
The landlord recently completed a major reinvestment—valued at “multiple millions of dollars”—at the campus, adding indoor common areas designed to promote collaboration; enhanced outdoor spaces; a new conference center; an expanded fitness center; and a game room.
The end result is a campus that’s “a little more casual” than before, particularly in the building’s common areas, according to Steve Case, executive vice president of Irvine Co.’s office division.
Those improvements have drawn interest from tech companies, as has the campus’ proximity to University of California-Irvine and University Research Park, the 185-acre office park that’s the current home of Broadcom Corp. and other tech-focused companies.
The towers of Newport Gateway offer tenants a different product type than the low-rise buildings of University Research Park.
“They’re a little more attractive to younger workers” who are looking to be in a more urban location, Case said.
The buildings still have a large share of more traditional tenants.
Opus Bank, the second largest commercial bank based in Orange County by assets, is the largest tenant at Newport Gateway. It leases an estimated 44,000 square feet there for its headquarters. Several law firms also lease more than 10,000 square feet at the property.
The mix of tech and professional services firms has “created a buzz” at the campus, according to Case.
“They’ve been cohabitating well,” he said.
Newport Gateway totals about 570,000 square feet. It was about 84% leased at the start of the year; it is now nearly full following the recent tech-focused additions, according to Case.
