Creative Office Conversion Coming to Tustin

A former research and development facility in a strong Orange County location will soon get a new life.

By Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

Harbor Associates LLC has acquired the vacant 40,000-square-foot building at 14201 Franklin Ave. in Tustin, Calif. for about $6 million, with plans to completely retrofit the property into a Class A creative office campus.

14201 Franklin Ave. in Tustin, Calif.

14201 Franklin Ave. in Tustin, Calif.

Steve Orchard, Gary Limjuco and Robert Murphy of Transwestern arranged the debt and equity financing for the project. Shawn Lawrence, Jason Ward, and Chon Kantikovit of Cushman & Wakefield represented the buyer and seller in the transaction.

The facility was built in 1983 and boasts unique features, including redwood beams with above standard clear heights, two interior glass atria, and multiple skylights. As part of the redevelopment, Harbor has planned extensive building and landscaping upgrades, as well as the conversion of the adjacent undeveloped 1.1-acre parcel into additional parking that will allow for the highest parking ratio in the competitive set.

The property is located within one mile of Interstate 5, the 261 Toll Road and Jamboree Road, offering easy access throughout Orange County and Southern California. 14201 Franklin is also situated within one mile of the 1.6 million-square-foot Tustin Marketplace outdoor shopping mall and three miles of the 1 million-square-foot District at Tustin Legacy retail center.

Overall, the facility’s characteristics and location make it an ideal candidate for a creative office conversion in a market where this type of product has a low, single digit vacancy rate.

“We are excited to have made our first acquisition in Orange County. Harbor is actively seeking similar value-add opportunities in high demand Southern California submarkets. We have a pipeline of quality, risk-adjusted opportunities in this space with the goal of investing $250M by year end 2016,” Paul Miszkowicz, principal for Harbor, said in prepared remarks.

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