Private Firms to Be Wooed for Ziggurat
Two years ago, the federal General Services Agency tried but failed to sell its mammoth, mostly empty Chet Holifield Building in Laguna Niguel.
Since then, it has tried to persuade more federal agencies to move into the 840,000-square-foot building, with only modest success. After 11 years of federal ownership, it is still half empty.
So next month, the GSA plans to launch an all-out campaign to attract private firms as tenants. It is offering to lease about 125,000 square feet of floor space and later may offer more if the market seems receptive.
Mary Filippini, spokeswoman at the GSA’s regional headquarters in San Francisco, said the GSA is seeking private firms that will not interfere with the federal agencies already there. Tenants now include the National Archives and Records Center, an Internal Revenue Service district office, a Social Security Administration office, and some Department of Interior and Department of Defense offices.
No Guidelines Yet
But the GSA has not drawn any specific guidelines for what private businesses it would accept, Filippini said. “We intend to look into each case individually, generally following the general guideline: Is it compatible with the federal agencies in the building?”
Could even a fast-food franchise qualify? “That’s possible, yes,” Filippini said. “If the price is right, yes.”
The GSA has been frustrated in its attempts to fill the building since it was obtained by the federal government in 1974.
Known as the Ziggurat because its design suggests a Babylonian terraced pyramid, the building was commissioned by Rockwell International Corp. for its Autonetics aerospace division. It was built in 1971, but before it could be occupied, the aerospace industry went into a deep recession.
The building was empty until 1974, when Rockwell traded it to the federal government for two federally owned factories then valued at $20 million.
But the GSA found few federal agencies willing to consider moving offices to the building, located on La Paz Road midway between the Saddleback Valley and the coast. At the time, that section of Laguna Niguel was virtually undeveloped, and the massive building, surrounded by 60 acres of parking, stood alone in a paved wilderness. It quickly earned the nickname of “white elephant.”
Early in 1983, the GSA tried to negotiate a sale of the building to Orange County and reportedly was offered $63 million, but no agreement was reached.
‘Pharaoh Wanted’
That July, the GSA launched an unusual sales campaign, advertising the building in newspapers nationwide: “Pharaoh Wanted . . . Pyramid for Sale.” Seven bids were received--the highest about $22 million, the lowest $110--but the GSA rejected them all as too low.
Since then, the GSA has renewed its campaign to attract federal government tenants but has not recruited any, Filippini said. She added that several are in “very initial discussions--nothing firm.” One is the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which is considering moving its western regional headquarters from its present location at a former medium-security detention facility on Terminal Island.
The present INS building is “very outdated” and in need of general repair, said John Belluardo, INS director of congressional and public affairs at Terminal Island. “It’s 50 to 60 years old, at least.”
He said that the GSA approached his agency about a year ago but that “no decisions have yet been reached. We’re just studying the possibility . . . . We feel that if proper terms could be worked out, (moving to Laguna Niguel) would be advantageous to us,” he said.
But a spokesman for clerical and secretarial workers at the INS office said it would not be such a boon to the lower-paid employees there.
Employees Polled
“We proposed to poll all the employees to see how everyone feels, but just by talking to people, we feel most wouldn’t be real excited about it,” said Ron Ackerman, president of Local 505 of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents the office’s 70 non-management employees. He added:
“The lower-graded people--secretaries and clerical workers--mostly live around Long Beach. They would probably quit rather than move. The managers can afford to buy houses or commute.”
Lack of public transportation and of nearby, low-cost housing has consistently plagued efforts to find tenants for the Holifield building, Filippini conceded.
But since the earlier years, “there has been a decided increase in what’s available there, and we are hoping at least those problems will be gone and (prospective tenants) will take a new and fresh look,” she said.
In mid-December, the GSA hired the national real estate firm of Coldwell Banker to find private tenants. Denis Faherty, one of the specialists assigned the task by Coldwell, said the building is “a little tucked away off the beaten path, but that can be overcome.
“The one outstanding feature is there’s over 100,000 square feet available on a single floor. That kind of space for R&D; (research and development) firms is not readily available in Orange and San Diego counties. Also, there are roughly 6,000 parking spaces available, and R&D; companies are very labor intensive,” Faherty pointed out.
