Kearny-Scripps LLC, a partnership led by Lankford and Kearny Real Estate Co., an affiliate of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund, is set to begin grading work for the four-story building in February, with completion set for December 2001. The project, located to the east of the Nokia Product Creation Center, will be a multi-tenant speculative building.

The new building is the fifth facility to be built at Scripps Northridge, located off Scripps Poway Parkway near Interstate 15. The other properties include two buildings, one 188,000 sf and the other 135,000 sf, occupied by Nokia's Product Creation Center; a 151,000-sf building used as a regional headquarters by Maintenance Warehouse; the 98,000-sf Scripps Northridge Technology Plaza, another class A office/research building set for completion in April.

"The San Diego market continues to show a strong demand for premium office space, so we expect this new project to attract tenant interest right away," says Robert V. Lankford, president/CEO of Lankford & Associates. "Its central San Diego County location and state-of-the-art technical amenities will make it very attractive to a wide range of users, who will complement the dynamic companies that are already at Scripps Northridge and in nearby areas."

Davis Davis Architects and Austin Veum Robbins and Parshalle are designing the shell and core project plan and architecture. Hensel Phelps Construction Co. will be the shell general contractor. Others participating for the Lankford-led team are Hope Engineering, structural engineering; Universal Mechanical, mechanical engineering; Berglectric, electrical engineer; S B & O Inc., civil engineering; and Van Dyke Partnership, landscape architect.