SANTA ANA, CA—A 197,370-square-foot office campus here is about to be repositioned to emphasize its identity as a true campus. Kearny Real Estate has purchased the newly named Elevate@Harbor from the Colton Co. for $34.8 million.

Elevate@Harbor includes two mid-rise buildings on eight acres at 3100-3130 Harbor Blvd. in the South Coast Metro West submarket, which was once a pocket of industrial and older-office use and is now undergoing a transformation to office use that is attracting “dynamic companies, a Millennial workforce and exciting amenities to the area,” Kearny partner Hoonie Kang said in a prepared statement. To capitalize on the building's functional layout, which can accommodate full- and partial-floor users, Kearny plans on investing approximately $15 million to reposition the office campus, he added.

Built in 1982, the three- and five-story glass-curtain-wall buildings were built on top of one level of podium construction, creating nearly an acre of open space. Kearny plans to take advantage of the unique aspects of the building, starting with the podium construction.

Also, the one-acre outdoor area surrounding the first floor of both buildings will be redesigned to incorporate outdoor areas that provide a mix of work, leisure and active spaces. With the podium elevated off of the street, the shared outdoor area set between the two buildings will create a “true campus feel” and provide shared indoor/outdoor conference areas, meeting spaces and an upgraded café and dining area, according to Kearny.

Elevate@Harbor is located less than a mile from the Press, a 24-acre redevelopment project that Kearny and Tribune Media Co. sold last month to Steelwave LLC and Invesco for $64.7 million. Other nearby developments include the Hive, the home of the Los Angeles Chargers, Van's recently completed global headquarters and retail destinations SOCO, The OC Mix and South Coast Plaza. “We have personally been witness to the area's reinvention, having spent two years processing entitlements for the Press prior to its sale,” said Kang in the statement.

Bob Smith of CBRE, who along with Anthony DeLorenzo, marketed the property for sale and represented both sides in the transaction, says Kearny's purchase of the campus serves as a unique opportunity to rebrand it. “I expect [Kearny] to deliver on [its] plans to make this a transformative project in the South Coast Metro,” said Smith in the statement. Kearny has engaged the Orange County office of CBRE, headed by Carol Trapani and Allison Kelly, to oversee leasing for Elevate@Harbor.

Instant Insights /

Kearny's $35M Buy to Gain “True Campus Feel”

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