Maguire Beefs Up Its Holdings in Irvine
Los Angeles developer Maguire Properties Inc. has nearly doubled its bet on Orange County with the $215-million purchase of 90 acres around the former Fluor Corp. headquarters in Irvine, it was announced Monday.
The acquisition includes 317,000 square feet of office and retail space, plus two parking garages. Maguire also picked up entitlements to develop as much as 2 million additional square feet of offices, stores, a hotel and apartments or condos at Jamboree Road, Michelson Drive and the San Diego Freeway.
Maguire made its first foray into Orange County in April when it paid $260 million for a 1.7-million-square-foot compound, which was built on 15 acres in 1978.
The site, acquired from Crow Winthrop Development of Orange County, once served as the home of engineering giant Fluor and consists of interconnected buildings, including a 10-story, hexagonal tower that is a local landmark.
Buying up the land around the former Fluor site -- the entire property is now known as Park Place -- will allow Maguire to provide more amenities for the office campus, such as restaurants.
In addition, some believe that those working in the area will find the new housing particularly attractive -- giving a lift, in turn, to those occupying the retail space.
“There is a lot of development potential,” said Los Angeles real estate analyst Craig Silvers of Bricks & Mortar Capital. “I think the residential will be a homerun for them.”
Silvers noted that Maguire’s beefed-up presence in Orange County might improve the real estate investment trust’s status on Wall Street, where some have criticized the firm for concentrating too heavily on downtown Los Angeles office buildings.
Maguire, which went public in June 2003, reported a first-quarter profit of $5.9 million, or 14 cents a share.
The Park Place property features a six-story office building on Michelson Drive that was completed last year and is 36% leased.
Chairman Robert Maguire said he hoped to erect another office building “in the near term” after finding tenants for the existing and planned towers.
Maguire’s new property also includes The Shops at Park Place, a 170,000-square-foot mall that is almost completely leased and can be expanded by as much as 80,000 square feet.
“It’s the most successful lifestyle center in Orange County,” said Maguire, who vowed to add 20,000 square feet of stores “immediately.”
The developer said he also was eager to move forward on residential construction. Already underway at Park Place are a pair of 18-story condominium towers being built by a Canadian company, Bosa Development. Most of the 232 units, which won’t be ready until 2006, have been sold at prices ranging from $650,000 to $1.4 million, Maguire said.
Bosa has an option to purchase land from Maguire for additional development. Other residential developers may also buy parcels from Maguire.
Shares of Maguire closed down 3 cents to $23.82 on the New York Stock Exchange.
