Western Digital Relocating to 365,000 SF

Western Digital, which has signed a 10-year lease for the Park Place space, was represented by Studley's Royce Sharf, executive vice president and branch manager of the firm's Orange County office; Kelly Givens, executive managing director based in Orange County; and David Providenti, senior managing director in the firm's New York office. Phil Belling, managing principal of LBA, notes that Western Digital will join other corporate tenants at Park Place including Prudential, State Farm, Balboa Insurance Group and Caltrans.

Since 2000, Western Digital has operated headquarters and engineering activities from a three-building campus located on Lake Forest Drive in Lake Forest. The company, which manufactures hard disk drives and other high-tech products, says that its significant growth over the past 10 years has required expansion into several additional nearby locations. In addition, its acquisition of SiliconSystems Inc. in March 2009 added a further location in Aliso Viejo. The leases for its current locations expire beginning in late 2010.

The 365,000 square feet at Park Place that Western Digital will occupy will be at 3355 Michelson Dr., a former Maguire Properties asset that Irvine-based LBA Realty acquired earlier this year. The move will be completed in two phases between late calendar year 2010 and late calendar year 2011. All of Western Digital's approximately 1,250 employees in Southern California will relocate to the new site.

John Coyne, president and CEO of Western Digital, said in a statement that consolidating all of the firm's Southern California employees under one roof "will facilitate tighter team collaboration, improve operational efficiencies, rationalize facilities costs and offer flexibility for future growth." Ray Bukaty, a senior vice president and general counsel for the high-tech firm, said that the selection of Park Place was the result of a year-long search. "It is close to where our employees live, structured to fit our unique needs for laboratories and office space, offers our employees improved amenities and is more cost effective than our current locations," Bukaty said.

Terms of the lease were undisclosed. LBA Realty's web site lists the asking rates for Park Place at $2.15 per square foot per month, full service gross.

The Western Digital corporate headquarters in Lake Forest consists of approximately 257,000 square feet of leased space, according to the company's annual report. Its Irvine location is 60,000 square feet of leased space, and its Aliso Viejo location totals approximately 34,000 square feet.