Emulex to Relocate Office in Costa Mesa

Emulex Corp., a large maker of computer circuit cards, has agreed to relocate its corporate office to a new site several blocks away in Costa Mesa for about $35 million, the company said.

Analysts described the lease to occupy 180,000 square feet for 10 years as one of the largest in Orange County this year. The office will be built on a 14.5-acre parcel on Susan Street between Harbor Boulevard and South Coast Drive and can be expanded by 65,000 square feet, said Royce Sharf, a vice president at Julian J. Studley Inc. in Irvine who handled the deal.

The project is part of a broader plan to develop Segerstrom Home Ranch by C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, one of the county’s largest landholders and creator of South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

Across the street, furniture retailer IKEA is building a store on land it purchased from Segerstrom.

The move allows Emulex to consolidate under one roof its engineers and laboratories, currently spread over four buildings, said Paul Folino, the company’s chief executive.

As many as 350 employees will move to the two-story complex, Folino said. The project is scheduled to be ready in September 2003.