AT&T; to Be Anchor Tenant in High-Rise : Telecommunications Company to Move Staff to 14-Story Irvine Center Tower
AT&T; will be the major anchor tenant of a new 14-story, $50-million office tower, the Irvine Co.’s first office building in Irvine Center, the urban core of Irvine Spectrum that is bounded by the San Diego (405), Santa Ana (5) and Laguna Canyon (California 133) freeways.
Irvine Center is the portion of Irvine Spectrum that will contain major corporate headquarters and high-rise and mid-rise office towers, combined with hotels, restaurants and commercial and retail support services.
The international telecommunications company will consolidate 800 sales and administrative employees at the new 326,000-square-foot AT&T; Tower office, located on a 16-acre site at the southeast corner of Irvine Center Drive and Alton Parkway.
Architect for the AT&T; Tower is Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum Inc. of St. Louis. Turner Construction is the general contractor.
First High-Rise
Richard G. Sim, president of the Irvine Co.’s Investment Properties Group, said the tower is not only the first high-rise office building in Irvine Center but also the first major office tower in south Orange County.
Under a development agreement with the city of Irvine, the Irvine Co. plans to develop about 7 million square feet of office space in Irvine Center along with a 1.5-million-square-foot regional shopping center, hotels and conference facilities.
Mazda Headquarters
Along with AT&T;, Mazda Motors of America Inc. celebrated the opening of its 5-story corporate headquarters building in Irvine Center last October.
Squibb United States has purchased a 5-acres in Irvine Spectrum to build a 76,000-square-foot, 2-story office building on the site, at Laguna Canyon Road and the San Diego (405) Freeway. Ground breaking of the Squibb building is scheduled for September.
Additional construction is under way for the $20-million Barranca Business Park in Irvine Spectrum. It includes 13 buildings totaling 278,000 square feet. A mid-April completion is slated for the development, a joint venture with Northwestern Mutual Life and Wilma Pacific Inc., which recently acquired the 16.4-acre site from the Irvine Co. Another major development in the Spectrum industrial park is TriPointe, at Alton Parkway and Irvine Boulevard. It is the first joint venture between the Irvine Co. and Laguna Niguel-based Birtcher.
The design, by architect Howard F. Thompson & Associates of Irvine, contrasts white facades and green reflective glass. Terraced areas and fountains enhance the public areas.
Twelve tenants have already signed leases for 50,548 square feet of the 150,000-square-foot TriPointe center, and another nine leases are currently being finalized.
