Offices Connected to New Hotel Are Filling Up Quickly
Despite the glut of office space in Orange County, the recently completed Plaza Tower--Garden Grove’s largest office complex and the first in the county to be linked to a hotel--has nearly 70% of its space leased or committed a week before the building is scheduled to open.
The connection of office to hotel via a sprawling, 160-foot-high atrium appears to be a big attraction for tenants. And while Tuesday was billed as grand opening day for the 17-story Alicante Princess Hotel, the adjoining Plaza Tower complex stole much of the limelight with the announcement of two major deals of its own.
Walt Disney Co.’s international theme park division has signed a letter of intent to occupy nearly an entire floor of the 10-story facility--about 17,000 square feet--according to Ken Denski, supervisor of purchasing and leasing at Disney.
Disney will hold back on signing a lease until it has full commitment from France for Disneyland Europe, Denski said. But he noted that the adjoining hotel is a key attraction for Disney. “Visiting executives could stay here and visit our offices, but be at the park in minutes,” he said.
Top 3 Floors Leased
In the other deal, Donnelley Information Publishing, a division of Dunn & Bradstreet, has signed a five-year lease for the top three floors--65,000 square feet--said Robert F. Beauchamp, president of Newport Beach-based Beauchamp Development Corp., which is developing the entire property. Donnelley, a publisher of Yellow Pages telephone directories, will consolidate its offices from four different Southland locations and is scheduled to begin moving into the facility on Friday. Financial details of the lease were not disclosed.
At least four more towers--totaling 1 million square feet--are planned for the site, Thomas R. Acklam, a leasing agent, said. The future towers will include office and retail uses.
One way the developer hopes to lure tenants to the offices is by providing a number of services through the Alicante Princess. All of the commercial tenants, for example, will be able to use the hotel’s catering and room service. In Donnelley’s case, the lures include a line of credit from the hotel, free use of a suite for a year and discounts on other hotel rooms.
The Alicante Princess currently has 100 of its 400 guest rooms open, with the remainder scheduled to open over the next month, hotel general manager H. Ross Justice said. Room rates vary from $85 for a single to $795 for the so-called Governor’s Suite.
“A lot of the hotels in the area pay lip service to corporate tenants, but we’re creating an office park environment,” Justice said.
The unusual exterior decor--including a $200,000 computerized fountain complete with six pink fiberglass flamingoes--”reflects the visiting public’s perception of Southern California,” said Robert Elliott, partner at the SWA Group, the Laguna Beach firm that designed the hotel.
