Pru-Led JV Buys OC Office Campus

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

A joint venture between Prudential Real Estate Investors and McCarthy Cook & Co. has acquired MetroCenter at South Coast, an 800,800-square-foot office campus in Costa Mesa, Calif., Prudential announced earlier this week.

Prudential declined to comment on the deal’s financials, and McCarthy Cook did not respond to Commercial Property Executive’s request for information. The seller was an affiliate of RREEF Funds, which had purchased the office park from McCarthy Cook and other parties in 2005 for a reported $261 million, according to the Orange County Business Journal. The closing took place last month, a Prudential spokesperson told CPE.

The 15-acre MetroCenter campus features three 12-story office buildings and a three-story health club. The site is near the coastal residential communities of Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and Corona del Mar and reportedly is within walking distance of luxury retailers, upscale restaurants, art and entertainment venues, and high-quality hotels.

McCarthy Cook, which is headquartered at MetroCenter, will be the property manager and leasing agent.

The JV intends to renovate MetroCenter and add on-site amenities to create a more campus-like work environment. As of now, plans include a plaza renovation with “collaborative outdoor space” and updated lobbies and corridors, and the addition of a conference center, tenant lounge and rooftop decks. More-creative additions, the Prudential spokesperson told CPE, will include bocce ball courts, lobbies with operable walls allowing access to outdoor areas and a “food truck alley.”

“With projections for outsized employment growth relative to the nation and limited new office construction, we believe Orange County’s office market has considerable room to grow before approaching pre-recession peaks,” Kevin R. Smith, head of the Americas at PREI, said in a prepared statement.

Edward Cook, co-CEO of McCarthy Cook, said, “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to partner with PREI to transform an extremely well-located property into an inspiring campus where people can work together in a collaborative indoor and outdoor environment.”