Office Builders Aren’t Setting Sites as High
A decade ago, developers and community boosters hailed Orange County’s rapidly rising skyline as a sign of civic maturity that would enhance the area’s global profile. Then the 1990 recession hit, and the building boom came to an abrupt halt.
Now, for the first time in five years, several new office buildings are being planned. But experts say the age of the soaring high-rise might have passed.
“People don’t like the flashy image of the high-rise. They don’t feel they need all the glitz,” said Alan J. Beaudette, senior vice president at CB Commercial Real Estate in Newport Beach.
“If today’s tenants have the choice between a 20-story building and a five-story building, they will choose the smaller one,” he said.
Instead of reaching for the stars, the latest office towers are modest in both size and style, including a six-story structure planned near UC Irvine and a four-story building in Brea.
The trend contrasts sharply with the grandiose style of the 1980s, when developers competed to build Orange County’s tallest tower and imported world-famous architects to design postmodern edifices of polished granite and stainless steel.
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Their efforts produced tall clusters that dot the landscape from Anaheim and Orange south through Santa Ana, Costa Mesa, Irvine and Newport Beach. The boom raised some concerns, though, about the wisdom of erecting towering commercial structures next to neighborhoods.
“Those tall buildings seemed to be a sign of male ego,” said former Costa Mesa Councilwoman Sandra L. Genis, who opposed a 32-story tower--it would have been the county’s tallest--proposed in the late 1980s.
“Psychologically, it’s a big issue,” Genis said. “It’s difficult to preserve the illusion of living in a non-urban area when you go into your backyard and see an office tower sticking up.”
Neighborhood opposition killed the Costa Mesa project, while the poor economy doomed a 1993 bid to build what would have been the county’s tallest tower in Santa Ana. The latter project, known as Main Street Concourse, would have included a 32-story building as well as cinemas and townhouses.
The last landmark to go up was the Plaza Tower in Costa Mesa, a 21-story stainless steel structure designed by famed architect Cesar Pelli. Completed in 1991, Plaza Tower is the county’s tallest.
It and other classic 1980s high-rises embody the “postmodern” style architectural style, which is marked by bold curves and arches and the use of unusual building materials. Costa Mesa’s Center Tower, for example, is covered with distinctive red granite.
Irvine’s skyline has such a striking look that filmmakers have used it as backdrops for such futuristic movies as “Demolition Man” and “Defending Your Life.”
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Despite the visual impact, real estate experts say that high-rises have lost their luster in the eyes of tenants, who generally prefer the shorter elevator rides and simpler designs of smaller buildings.
The new offices typically use “understated” construction materials like precast panels instead of polished granite, Beaudette said. They are also wired for “instant World Wide Web access”--something the older buildings lack.
“People are looking for functional buildings . . . with a low-key image,” Beaudette said. “With many of these new entrepreneurial companies, it’s difficult for them to portray this flashy image that was commonplace in the 1980s.
“It’s not politically correct.”
Some urban planners defend Orange County’s high-rises, however, crediting them with bringing jobs into an area that for decades was known as a suburban bedroom community.
Placing jobs closer to housing cuts commuting time and helps to create a more balanced local economy, they maintain.
“There are some advantages to the intensity when you consider the economic benefits,” said Frank Hotckiss, an Orange County architect and teacher. “It can be healthy in terms of balancing jobs and housing.”
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Standing Tall
Here is a look at Orange County’s tallest buildings:
1. Plaza Tower, 21 stories, 600 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa
2. Center Tower, 21 stories, 650 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa
3. The City Tower, 20 stories, 333 City Blvd. West, Orange
4. Jamboree Towers, 20 stories, 4-6 Park Plaza, Irvine
5. Lakeshore Towers, 18 stories, 18101 Von Karman Ave., Irvine
Sources: City of Costa Mesa, Times reports;
Researched by SHELBY GRAD / Los Angeles Times
