Koll Sells Office Building in Irvine for $48 Million

An eight-story office tower in Irvine has been sold by Koll Development Co. and its New York financial partner to Terrace Tower USA for $48 million, a Koll executive said Tuesday.

The building, part of a twin-tower project being developed at Main Street and MacArthur Boulevard, was completed a year ago. It was the Newport Beach developer’s first new high-rise and one of the few built in Orange County during the last decade.

But with vacancy rates well under 10% and approaching all-time lows, Koll decided to sell the building, part of a hub near John Wayne Airport that contains some of the county’s largest office towers. “It was our game plan to build and sell,” said Nader Shah, Koll’s vice president of development.

The 172,250 square-foot building, known as 1900 Main Street, was owned by Koll and NorthStar Capital, a New York real estate investment company. The tower’s offices, which are more than 95% occupied, include Lyon & Lyon LLP and Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble & Mallory law firms, and California Bank and Trust.

The second tower, 1901 Main Street, is expected to be completed in September, 2001, Shah said.

The buyer of the first tower is the U.S. subsidiary of Terrace Tower, an Australian property trust company.