SANTA ANA, CA-Coast Composites Inc., a supplier of precision tooling for large composite parts for aerospace and other industries, will expand its corporate headquarters to a 114,000-sf industrial building here under terms of an $8-million lease with ProLogis, according to Studley.

Jeff Cannon of Studley, who teamed with Studley's Tim Schramm to represent Coast Composites in the lease, says that the composites firm will keep its existing 78,000-sf building in Irvine for other operations.

Coast's new space is at 1395 S. Lyon St. in Santa Ana, in one of California's 42 enterprise zones, which provide both federal and state location-based incentive credits to California businesses within the zone borders. Cannon points out that Coast will be able to maximize several state and federal incentives in the form of employer, employee and equipment credits, making the move a substantial return on investment.

The firm will move its welding and forming units to the new Santa Ana facility, according to Coast Composites' CFO Bill Kansky. He says the company needs the new space because its business continues to expand in response to demand for advanced composite materials for commercial and military aircraft applications.

At Coast's existing 78,000-sf facility at 5 Burroughs in Irvine, the company will continue to operate its machining and finishing units. Cannon explains that Coast Composites needed a strategic expansion plan that would keep the firm's business units, manufacturing teams and its executive management team close to each other for greater productivity.

Coast employs approximately 122 workers, 45 of which will switch to the new Santa Ana facility. The firm will initially occupy half of the one-story facility, and will sublease its remaining space to Trend USA, an importer of Italian marble. ProLogis represented itself in the lease with Coast.