The second time’s a charm for Spigen Inc., an Irvine-based maker of smartphone cases, chargers and related accessories, in its efforts to buy a mid-sized office in the Spectrum area of the city.
The U.S. affiliate of Spigen Korea Inc. last month completed the purchase of 8845 Irvine Center Drive, a roughly 36,000-square-foot office building just south of the intersection of the San Diego (405) and Santa Ana (5) freeways.
The company paid about $13.8 million, or $380 per square foot, for the two-story office, according to property records.
The building’s seller was a Canadian-based entity operating under the 4th Generation Properties name, records indicate. The seller paid $8.9 million for the office in 2014.
The property is on a 2.3-acre site, and counts multiple tenants, including the U.S. base of Presbia, an eyecare-focused medical device company, according to brokerage data.
Irvine’s SecureAuth, a growing cybersecurity firm, had called the building home until last year, when it relocated to 38 Discovery Drive.
Spigen currently leases space at an office in the vicinity, as well as a nearby flex building, both owned by Irvine Co. It occupies about 60,000 square feet in the area on a combined basis, according to CoStar Group Inc. records.
Spigen, formed in 2007, is one of several area companies that makes smartphone cases and accessories. Its brands include Caseology, Gearlock, and Cyrill.
2016 Plans
The Irvine Center Drive office purchase comes nearly six years after Spigen had entered a pact to buy a larger building in the Spectrum at about the same price, but never completed the deal.
In mid-2016, the company was in a contract with El Segundo-based PCM Inc. to buy 19 Morgan, a roughly 60,000-square-foot flex building near the southern edge of the former El Toro Marine base.
Spigen agreed to pay $13.2 million for the property—or about $200 per square foot—according to regulatory filings from PCM, which at the time was publicly traded.
That deal didn’t get finalized, and Spigen forfeited a non-refundable deposit of $300,000, according to regulatory filings. A reason for the deal falling through wasn’t disclosed at the time.
PCM, a direct marketer of technology products and services for consumers as well as business, government, and educational customers, ended up selling the 19 Morgan building in 2020 for $14.7 million, records indicate. It no longer has operations in the area.
