Metroplex: It Spells Office Buildings : Business Properties Has Major Anaheim, Los Angeles Projects
To folks around Dallas and Fort Worth, Metroplex is the shorthand term for the greater metropolitan area. To the people at Business Properties Development Co., Irvine, Metroplex is the designation for office projects in Los Angeles and Anaheim.
Ground was broken last week for Metroplex II, the second of a three-phase $85-million multi-use commercial center adjacent to Anaheim Stadium that will have 657,000 square feet of office space in four office buildings, as well as a hotel.
Bordered by Katella and Howell Avenues and Sinclair Street, the six-story office building in Metroplex II has 108,000 square feet, with parking for 376 cars, according to Richard E. Oglesby, a vice president of Business Properties. He added that Metroplex III will have two office buildings and the hotel. Construction is expected to begin this summer on the hotel.
The project architect is Robert S. Kraft, Architects, Irvine. The contractor is Tutor-Saliba Corp., Sylmar, while the landscape architect is Emmet L. Wemple & Associates, Costa Mesa.
Wilshire Project Started
Last fall, Business Properties began construction on Metroplex Wilshire, 3530 Wilshire Boulevard at Normandie Avenue in the Wilshire Center district. The $35-million, 18-story project, designed by Langdon Wilson Mumper Architects, has 422,213 gross square feet, with 22,092 square feet of rental space on each typical floor, Oglesby said. A seven-story parking structure adjacent to the building will provide parking, along with two levels of below-grade parking in the building proper.
“Los Angeles is a major U. S. commercial center and Business Properties feels that the central Wilshire area has a definite place in this community,” he added. “As a well-established marketplace, it is able to offer competitive office space and is accessible from all areas of the city.”
Occupancy Next Year
Occupancy of the Metroplex Wilshire building, also being constructed by Tutor-Saliba, is expected next February. The lender is Teacher’s Insurance & Annuity Assn. and the leasing broker is Cutting, Howard & Co., Los Angeles. Speaking of the Anaheim project, Oglesby said that it is being constructed in an area of northern Orange County that “is quickly becoming recognized as downtown to a number of industries, including sales, service, legal and accounting firms, regional and corporate offices and businesses that have large space and employee requirements.”
He added that Anaheim is considered a desirable location because it offers accessibility, quality real estate, competitive rents and a large labor base.
