The Irvine Co. has begun construction on three low-rise office buildings totaling 233,000 square feet at Michelle Drive and Jamboree Road.
The project, Jamboree Business Center, is on two connected sites near The Market Place at the Santa Ana (5) Freeway and the Eastern (261) Toll Road. It is scheduled to be completed by early 2008.
In all, The Irvine Co. is building 63 office floors in Irvine and plans to build another 36. Together they would create about 2 million square feet. It's four other office projects are 20-40 Pacifica near the Spectrum Center; University Research Park at UC Irvine; Discovery Business Center in the Spectrum and Irvine Towers near John Wayne Airport.
The Newport Beach-based developer is building on speculation that it can find tenants for the space.
The company's portfolio in Orange County is 95 percent leased and independent studies show vacancy rates in the county overall are near historic lows, Irvine Co. spokesman Bill Rams said. The company's long-term faith in the Orange County market is strong, he said.
Space at the 511,000-square-foot University Research Park is nearly sold out. Signed tenants include Broadcom Corp., Time Warner's AOL, Cisco Systems and Fluor Corp.
None of the offices at Jamboree Business Center are leased yet, Rams said. The company's Web site, , shows lease rates at $2.35 per square foot.
On Jamboree Business Center, LPA Inc. of Irvine is the architect; Roel Construction Co. of San Diego is the general contractor; and Westling & Associates of Newport Beach is the construction manager.
