The Irvine Company is bailing out of Downtown San Diego, with a listing for two more office towers as it shifts north around a University of California campus.
The Newport Beach-based company led by Donald Bren has put two buildings on the market at 100 West Broadway and 225 Broadway for an undisclosed price, the Orange County Business Journal reported.
The listing comes two months after the OC real estate giant sold the 34-story, 530,000-square-foot Symphony Towers building at 750 B Street in Downtown to Taiwan-based Formosa for $45.7 million, or $86 per square foot — a new office sales benchmark. The Irvine Company bought the building in 2003 for $134.3 million, or $243 per square foot
The Irvine Company bought the pair of newly listed buildings in 2005 for $265 million, or nearly $325 per square foot, according to CoStar.
The 20-story glass tower at 101 West Broadway, built in 1984 and renovated nine years later, contains 452,400 square feet. Tenants include Morgan Stanley and the U.S. Probation Office.
The 22-story tower at 225 Broadway, built in 1974 and revamped in 2001, has 363,100 square feet. Tenants include Federal Defenders of San Diego.
Eastdil Secured holds the listings.
“These are two of Downtown San Diego’s most iconic office towers along Broadway, and we anticipate significant interest in this opportunity to acquire these signature Class A buildings,” Eastdil Secured Managing Director Adam Edwards said in a statement to the Business Journal.
The Irvine Company is selling the office towers as it pivots to suburban University City, 13 miles north of Downtown near UC San Diego. A new development plan by the city aims to add nearly 30,000 homes and 72,000 jobs.
The firm already has a “sizable office and rental presence” there, according to the Business Journal, which was short on specifics.
The University Towne Center submarket, a major hub for life sciences near UC San Diego, has more than 550 science and technology companies.
Bren is the wealthiest real estate developer in the U.S., with a net worth of $18 billion, according to the Orange County Business Journal.
— Dana Bartholomew
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