OC’s parks have something for everyone

OC’s Office, Business Complexes go From Opulent to Industrial

How you define an office or business park depends on who you ask.

Orange County’s largest office and business parks, as listed by the Business Journal on pages 39 and 40, range from the 3-million-plus-square-feet and growing Irvine Spectrum to the 457,355-square-foot Pacific Business Center in Lake Forest.

Then there’s the opulent setting of The Summit Office Campus in Aliso Viejo and the more industrial Brea Industrial Complex. Don’t forget the high rises around John Wayne Airport and the trendy two-story flex-tech buildings that dot much of the county’s landscape.

But OC office and business parks have at least one thing in common, according to Paul Marshall, senior vice president of real estate development for Opus West Corp. in Irvine:

“An accumulation of multiple buildings in concert together, hopefully, with amenities.”

“Amenities”,from high-capacity network wiring to nearby restaurants and shops,are a big selling tool for many tenants. For other park dwellers, being located within the highest profile business area, regardless of lease rates, is key.

The Airport Area

While OC has never been a high-rise hot spot, vertical is alive and well, according to Opus West’s Marshall. Many tenants want the hustle and bustle of a central business district, he says. In OC, that’s the airport area, where buildings typically top out at about 12 stories.

The airport area saw the construction of eight new high-rise buildings in 2000, according to a report from Grubb