Firms Take 270,000 SF in New Maguire Building

IRVINE, CA-Maguire Properties Inc. has signed mortgage provider New Century Financial Corp. to 190,000 sf and law firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher to 80,000 sf in a new 600,000-sf office tower that the L.A.-based REIT will develop at its Park Place campus. The terms of the leases were not disclosed, but the rates are believed to be about $3.90 per sf per month for space in the new building.

New Century, which is believed to have signed for eight years, was represented by Jim Suber of CB Richard Ellis, with leasing SVP Bill Flaherty of Maguire representing the landlord. Steve Bay, Clay Hammerstein and Kevin Bender of CB Richard Ellis represented Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher, which is believed to have signed for 10 years, with Peter Johnston handling the deal for Maguire Properties.

Maguire’s new 20-story building will be constructed at the northern edge of the Park Place property adjacent to the San Diego (405) Freeway. The two leases put the new building at nearly 50% preleased, which “is in line with our strategy regarding new development,” says Rob Maguire, chairman and co-CEO of his namesake company. Maguire expects to break ground on the project this summer and to complete the new office tower in the second half of 2007. The building will be designed by architect Richard Keating.

Park Place is a 105-acre project that is expected to be fully developed over the next five to seven years. The mixed-use property will include new office, hotel with condos, new high-end residential units and expanded retail. The campus is adjacent to the San Diego Freeway at Jamboree Road and Michelson Drive near the John Wayne Airport and South Coast Plaza.

New Century Financial will move its corporate headquarters to the new Maguire building from elsewhere in Orange County. In February, New Century signed leases for 179,000 sf at the existing Park Place office campus and at the 3121 Michelson Dr. office building owned by Maguire, which brought the occupancy for existing space at Park Place to nearly 100%. Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher has been a long-time Maguire tenant, dating to 1981, and occupies nearly 270,000 sf at the REIT’s Wells Fargo Tower in Downtown Los Angeles.