Anecdotal evidence of the steady strong demand for office space in San Diego comes with word that the Irvine Co. has signed leases with five new companies to take up a combined 26,000 square feet of space in its Centerside office tower complex in Mission Valley.
Casey Brown Co. also has singed new leases with six companies at Old Town Plaza, a 65,000 square foot office park that the company spent $3 million renovating in 2018.
Centerside is comprised of side-by-side office towers at 3111 and 3131 Camino del Rio N. along Interstate 8.
The new leases were for space in the 13-story Centerside I at 3111 Camino del Rio N., the older of the two buildings, built in 1982 with 209,684 square feet of rentable space.
At 16 stories with 297,136 square feet of rentable space, the second tower was built in 1987.
Recent renovations included new finishes and entries in the lobby, a new lakeside deck and updated landscaping, a shaded outdoor fitness center, additional café seating, and an on-site coffee cart.
The roster of new tenants coming to Centerside I includes SGPA Architecture & Planning.
With offices in San Diego, San Francisco and Fresno, SGPA will make the 6,700 square feet it’s leasing in Centerpiece I its corporate headquarters.
The firm provides design services for mixed-use, senior living, retail, residential, wellness and educational projects, according to its website.
Horrocks Engineers Inc. based in Utah is using the 6,900 square feet it’s leasing in Centerside I to expand its presence in California.
The company on its website describes itself as “a full service civil engineering and professional services firm.”
Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. is leasing 6,300 square feet in Centerside I. The firm also leases space from the Irvine Co. at 100 Spectrum Center Drive in Irvine.
Rounding out the new leases were the law firm of Pearlman Brown & Wax LLP. and Anser Advisory LLC.
Details were unavailable on how much space those companies are leasing.
Renovations by the Casey Brown Co. at the two buildings that comprise Old Town Plaza, 2251 San Diego Ave., included new common area corridors, a conference room, kitchen, lobbies and restroom.
The company gutted the interior to expose large wooden beams that reach up to form a cathedral ceiling in one section that goes up nearly 20 feet.
The landscaping and what had been a largely disused courtyard also were redone.
Among those leasing space in the updated complex were Campos EPC, an engineering, procurement and construction company that took 7,687 square feet; Knox Attorney Services, that took 3,233 square feet; Wohl Property Group, that took 359 square feet; defense contractor Leonardo DRS, which took 1,494 square feet; Global Defense Inc. which took 3,266 square feet, and Ignyte, a branding company that took 2,929 square feet.
With the addition of those companies, Old Town Plaza is 95 percent leased.
“We expect to be fully leased by the end of the year,” said Brandt Riedman, a vice president with the commercial real estate brokerage JLL.
Riedman, Richard Gonor and Tony Russell, also of JLL, are in charge of leasing at Old Town Plaza.
“There continues to be a lot of excitement about Old Town Plaza from the San Diego business community as evidenced by our recent success,” Riedman said.