REAL ESTATE : Koll Plans $50-Million Office Tower With Japanese Partners Near Airport

Koll Co., the big Newport Beach developer, said it would build a $50-million, 11-story office tower in partnership with a Japanese company at Koll Center Irvine near John Wayne Airport.

Koll said it would start construction in August near Von Karman Avenue and Michelson Drive. The building will be a duplicate of the Transamerica Building, a white, precast concrete office tower built four years ago.

Koll’s partner in the building is Zenitaka Corp., which acquired the joint-venture rights from Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Cos.

Zenitaka, a 100-year-old contractor, acquired in the same deal the joint-venture rights with Koll to a second site nearby, Koll said. Both sites are next to the Transamerica building and the five-story Marine National Bank building, which are joint ventures of Koll and the life insurance company.

Gensler & Associates designed the new, 234,500-square-foot building, which is scheduled for completion in 1990, Koll said.

Koll Center Irvine is a 104-acre, $1-billion office and retailing center on both sides of the San Diego Freeway at Von Karman Avenue. The new building will be the 13th in the center.