A Santa Ana-based maker of accessories for iPhones, iPads and other smart phones has inked a lease for new headquarters in Tustin.
Mophie Inc. recently signed a 48,772-square-foot lease for 15101 Red Hill Ave., with plans to take over all of the two-story office located near the edge of the Tustin Legacy mixed-used development.
Mophie will move into the space early next year and is planning extensive upgrades to the property prior to its move, according to Phil Cohen, a senior vice president for the Irvine office of brokerage Lee & Associates who worked on the lease.
The transaction is among the largest new office leases signed in Orange County over the last quarter.
Mophie currently occupies a smaller space in a multitenant office complex a little more than a mile away, on a stretch of Red Hill Avenue that is in Santa Ana.
The company makes accessories for a variety of Apple Inc. products and is best known for its portable “juice pack” battery cases for the iPhone, which run from about $35 to just under $100 and improve the battery life of phones.
Other Mophie products include phone cases designed for extreme outdoor use, cables, clips and video game accessories. A recent report said the company’s latest product is an action sports camera that’s compatible with the iPhone.
The company’s products are sold in Apple stores, Best Buy, AT&T stores and other retail locations.
Mophie also has presence in Michigan, where it got its start in 2005. In July it announced plans to build a 30,000-square-foot facility in a business park near Western Michigan University to house its North American distribution center.
The company’s cofounder and chief operating officer, Shawn Dougherty, is a Michigan native.
Mophie does much of its manufacturing at a facility in China.
Its administration, sales and marketing functions moved from Michigan to Santa Ana in 2009.
The company currently has listings for more than 20 job openings in its Orange County office, primarily engineering and design-related.
Mophie is among a growing segment of OC companies that have capitalized on smart phone sales by Apple and other companies by offering various accessories. Other notable companies include Irvine-based Incipio Technologies Inc., as well as Targus Group International Inc. and Mobile Edge LLC, both of Anaheim.
Mophie’s lease for the 15101 Red Hill property comes a few months after a change in ownership for the Tustin office building.
A local investor operating under the name Fortland Inc. paid a reported $9 million, or about $184 per square foot, for the empty office a few months ago in a lender-driven sale.
Terms of the lease with Mophie weren’t disclosed. Lee & Associate’s Cohen represented Fortland in the sale and also worked with them on the lease.
Steven Card, executive vice president for the Newport Beach office of brokerage Travers Realty, represented Mophie in the lease.
