The pharmaceutical company, Pfizer Inc., and Sprint Telecommunications, signed for seven years and five years, respectively at the 900,000-sf office development at Von Karman Boulevard and the 405 Freeway near Orange County Airport. Greg May, a senior vice president for building manager Transwestern Commercial Services, tells GlobeSt.com that Pfizer has doubled its space to 64,000 sf and now occupies three full floors in a $12-million renewal. Sprint, which formerly occupied approximately 120,000 sf at the complex, has closed a 63,000-sf call center at the Irvine location. Thus, its space has been cut to 57,000 sf in an $8-million renewal. The Pfizer and Sprint leases were both due to expire later this year.

May says occupancy is now 80% at the Irvine Center complex, where the ownership has spent about $5 million on upgrades since taking over the property in 2001. May and David Girty of Transwestern represented the building owner, a joint venture of Connecticut-based CIGNA and Transwestern Investment Co. of Chicago. Rich Essen of Cushman & Wakefield Inc. represented Pfizer, with Ryan Cunningham and Herb Hafter of Jones Lang LaSalle representing Sprint.

Built by the Koll Co. in stages from 1983 to 1988, the Irvine Center Towers complex was designed by AC Martin and comprises four identical towers of 11 stories each, overlooking a reflective lake. It is part of a two-million-sf portfolio of Orange County office properties managed by Transwestern, which oversees about six million sf in Southern California.

Despite the cutback by Sprint, which is one of many telecom companies that have downsized operations during the current economic slump, May says the office complex is benefiting from the upgrades, which he says have made it more competitive with newer projects. He adds Union Bank also renewed earlier this year, signing for 70,000 sf that included a 10,000-sf expansion. "We're renewing and expanding good quality tenants, which is the name of the game these days," May says.