According to Tim Hawthorne and Jared Rogers in Buchanan's Newport Beach office, who arranged the transaction, the two-phase project will include seven multi-tenant buildings arranged in a master-planned park, with designs ranging from 40,000 sf to 60,000 sf. The buildings, which will feature 24-foot clear heights along with dock-high and grade-level loading, will be designed to accommodate office usage to as much as 30% of the total floor plan.

Buchanan invested nearly $2.9 million in joint venture equity for the development, and was also responsible for arranging $9.6 million in construction financing through one of its commercial bank relationships. Kristin Olson, vice president and portfolio manager for Buchanan Street, says the firm liked the deal as an investment both for its belief in the viability of the project and Abbott's previous experience in Valencia. Abbott has developed more than 25 projects totaling more than two million sf, including 500,000 sf in Valencia.

An April ground-breaking is planned for the first phase of the development, which will include 132,000 sf in three buildings. The remaining 191,000 sf is scheduled to commence by yearend, with a June 2004 completion planned. The project will join a number of other industrial and office developments near what was once a 377-acre Lockheed research and development center in Rye Canyon.