KPMG Signs for 43,000 SF at Irvine Co. Tower

IRVINE, CA-Accounting firm KPMG has signed a 10-year lease for 43,277 square feet of space at the Irvine Co.’s 20 Pacifica office tower in the Irvine Spectrum and plans to relocate to the new space from the Orange County city of Costa Mesa in May. The global advisory, audit and tax services firm will also get its name atop the new 15-story office tower and will join other financial industry tenants at the Irvine Co.’s twin-tower complex of 20 Pacifica and 40 Pacifica.

KPMG will occupy the building’s entire seventh and most of its eighth floors. It will join a tenant roster including UBS, City National Bank and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. at the office complex, which includes the 310,000-square-foot 20 Pacifica office tower and the 310,000-square-foot 40 Pacifica tower.

Dean Samsvick, managing partner of KPMG’s Orange County office, says that the firm chose the 20 Pacifica location for a number of factors, including its “outstanding environmental efficiencies,” and its location along the 405 Freeway, a short drive from John Wayne Airport. Regarding environmental efficiencies, Samsvick says that the 20 Pacifica building conforms with KPMG’s firmwide green initiative to reduce its carbon footprint.

With the signing of the KPMG lease, the Irvine Co. has now signed tenants to 3.6 million square feet during the past six months, according to Val Wheeler, president of Irvine Co. Office Properties. Wheeler calls the total something that “nobody could have imagined a year ago,” especially since the Irvine Co. opened 20 Pacifica in late 2007 and 40 Pacifica a few months later, at a time when US office leasing was already waning. KPMG’s deal brings both projects to 65% leased.

KPMG was represented by Jeffrey Ingham, Thomas Murphy and Curtis Ellmore from Jones Lang LaSalle in the lease, terms of which were not disclosed. The latest market report that lists asking rates for the Irvine Spectrum pegs them at $3.52 per square foot per month, but brokers in the Orange County market tell GlobeSt.com that deals are generally being signed at rents below asking rates and with landlords granting generous concessions.