Birtcher, Xerox Team to Construct $175-Million Santa Ana Office Park

Birtcher Equities and Xerox Realty Corp., joint-venturing as Birtcher Xerox Partners in the development of Xerox Centre in Santa Ana, have started construction of Phase 1 of the $175-million high-rise office complex.

As one of Birtcher’s largest developments to date, second only to the Pacific Design Center, Xerox Centre will ultimately encompass 1.1 million square feet of office space in two 15-story towers and one 22-story tower, on a 10.6-acre site near the intersection of the Santa Ana (5) and Newport (55) freeways.

“The project is dead center between the John Wayne Airport and Central Orange County and will provide airport-quality buildings at a Central Orange County price that could mean a 15% to 20% savings to tenants,” said Brandon Birtcher, a fourth-generation principal in Birtcher’s nationwide full-service real estate operation.

Xerox Centre, now being developed on the former site of Allstate Insurance’s regional headquarters, is expected to attract businesses in the area currently housed in smaller facilities, the executive said.

Full-Service Preference

“We’re very optimistic about the Park Center area and the consistently higher absorption of major mixed-use projects in Central Orange County where an 80% occupancy level prevails,” added Birtcher, stressing a growing corporate preference for full-service projects with a wide range of convenience amenities.

At Xerox Centre, amenities will be enhanced by an existing major Sequoia recreation facility adjacent to the project.

A 10-year lease has already been signed by Xerox Corp. for 125,000 square feet of office space in the project’s 15-story Phase 1 building that is targeted for completion in August, 1988.

“A major advantage is that Xerox is building a building for Xerox, and its concern for state-of-art detail throughout the complex will naturally benefit all other tenants,” said Bill Murrell, senior sales consultant for Coldwell Banker’s Orange office, the exclusive leasing agent.

‘Highest Quality Amenities’

“Nowadays, an offering of the highest quality amenities, including pathways for fiber-optics technology, such as will be found at Xerox Centre, is critical in attracting major tenants and top-quality personnel in a highly competitive business environment.”

The architectural firm of McLarand Vasquez & Partners Inc. of Costa Mesa was commissioned to do the schematic and design development for Xerox Centre, and Strock Architects of Newport Beach provided the construction documentation. Birtcher Construction of Laguna Niguel is the builder and the Peridian Group of Irvine is the landscape architect, with Birtcher Properties to serve as property manager.

The 325,840-square-foot Phase 1 tower will feature a rotunda lobby with accents of stainless steel contrasting with polished marble walls, columns and floors and will feature a two-toned color scheme of Verde Alpi Scuro and Rosa Girona marble consistent with the building’s green-and-silver solar reflective glass exterior and its two-story polished Balmoral granite tile base.

In addition to the office tower, Phase 1 will include an eight-level parking structure with 1,140 stalls and 7,342 square feet of ground-floor restaurant and retail space designed specifically to serve Xerox Centre office tenants.

“The parking structure will incorporate a design theme compatible with the office tower and will feature twin six-story central glass elevator towers,” said W. Richard Oakes, a Birtcher vice president and project director, adding that covered pavilions will be conveniently adjacent for dining and conversation and a landscaped pedestrian plaza will connect the office tower with the parking structure.

Subsequent Phases

Phase 2 of the complex will encompass a 22-story, 420,000-square-foot tower and a parking structure with 1,290 stalls and 7,390 square feet of retail space, Oakes said.

Plans for Phase 3 call for one 15-story tower identical in square footage to the one in the first phase and a 1,028-stall parking structure with 7,390 square feet of retail space.

“The Orange County Xerox Centre represents a major investment and involvement by Xerox Realty in the future of Southern California, an area of extreme importance to Xerox Corp.’s overall business objectives,” said a spokesman for Xerox Realty Corp., a Connecticut-based subsidiary of Xerox Corp.

Founded in 1939

It has developed more than 4 million square feet of office space in such major markets as Dallas, Toronto, New Orleans and El Segundo. The company is currently developing corporate office parks in Texas and Virginia.

Founded in 1939 in Laguna Niguel, Birtcher has more than $1.3 billion of commercial, industrial and retail projects in design or under construction throughout the country and since 1970, has developed more than 34 million square feet of mixed-use space.

In addition to the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, the company’s projects include the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market, SouthCenter master-planned business park in Oregon and the 400-acre Oakmead Village master-planned mixed-use complex that provided the foundation for Northern California’s Silicon Valley.