$25-Million Home for Rutan & Tucker

The law firm of Rutan & Tucker, one of the county’s larger office tenants, has negotiated a new lease at Central Bank Tower in Costa Mesa said by the landlord to be worth about $25 million.

The lease is one of the largest in Orange County this year, covering 90,000 square feet over 10 years.

Brokers said such a large tenant as Rutan & Tucker probably negotiated a very favorable deal with the landlord, C.J. Segerstrom & Sons.

With the market glutted with office space and vacancy rates high, landlords have been forced to make big concessions to larger tenants.

The law firm--the largest based in Orange County--had two years left on its original lease, which it signed in 1981.

Since that time, the firm, which was founded in Santa Ana in 1906, has doubled in size to more than 100 lawyers. The firm represents clients in business, government and real estate.

It now occupies the 11th through the 15th floors at Central Bank Tower.

The new lease has an option allowing Rutan & Tucker to take another 20,000 square feet in the building.

The firm said it elected to stay after looking at “a number of potential office sites.”

Rutan & Tucker decided to remain because it liked the location--across the street from the South Coast Plaza mall--and the opportunity to expand, said managing partner Richard Sims.