Transportation Element Part of Irvine Spectrum Project

In breaking ground on Wednesday for its 9-story 7700 office building in the Irvine Spectrum, the Wolff Co. will also contribute to the business and research center by volunteering to completely underwrite the operation of a ride-sharing vanpool that will be available to any group of Spectrum employees who want to establish their own vanpool.

Thomas C. Wolff Jr., president of the Newport Beach-based firm, said he opted to be the first to voluntarily fund the vanpool operation, “because we believe that developers and all other companies must step forward and voluntarily do something meaningful to mitigate traffic on Orange County’s congested freeways.”

The Wolff Co.’s $33.5-million office project at 7700 Irvine Center Drive, will encompass 217,000 square feet and is scheduled for completion next July.

Also in the Irvine Spectrum, Western Digital is planning to build a state-of-the-art semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility. The $70-million, 150,000-square-foot plant will be located on a 12-acre site at the intersection of Alton and Banking parkways.

Earlier this year, Western Digital announced plans to consolidate its corporate and world headquarters in a new 15-story office tower under development by the Irvine Co. in Irvine Spectrum. About 1,000 employees will occupy this struicture by mid-1990 and an additional 425 Western Digital employees will be transferred from its Costa Mesa manufacturing plant.