PIMCO to build in Newport Center

By John Canalis, <a href=”mailto:john.canalis@latimes.com”>john.canalis@latimes.com</a>

March 13, 2011 11:08 AM PT

After looking at properties throughout Orange County, financial services giant PIMCO has agreed in principle to stay in Newport Beach and build its new corporate headquarters in Newport Center, according to a Sunday announcement by the Irvine Co.

The Pacific Investment Management Co. plans to build a 380,000-square-foot, 20-story office building at 650 Newport Center Drive. The Irvine Co., which owns and operates Newport Center and adjacent Fashion Island, plans to lease the space.

PIMCO’s existing headquarters are at 800 and 840 Newport Center Drive, in the Pacific Financial Plaza.

Construction is set to begin in late summer and be completed in mid-2013.

PIMCO is one of Newport’s top employers and providers of professional-level jobs. The global investment company employs 1,500 people worldwide, 850 of them here.

“We are honored to be selected as the builder and long-term landlord,” Doug Holte, president of office properties for Newport Beach-based Irvine Co., said in a prepared statement. “Additionally, we are pleased PIMCO has decided to maintain their headquarters in Newport Beach and occupy a new state-of-the-art facility that accommodates the firm’s highly sophisticated technology needs and investment management activities.”

New York architect Henry Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners has been hired to design a “collaborative, open-architecture floor plan, a conference center and state-of-the-art trading floor,” according to the Irvine Co., which said the building should qualify for an environmental designation known as LEED certification.

Irvine Co. officials were not available to comment beyond the news release over the weekend. An official announcement was expected Monday morning.

Newport Beach city officials were pleased to see PIMCO staying in town, after looking at properties in Irvine and other cities. The company was founded here in 1971 and is now one of the largest investment companies in the world.

“We are thrilled to be able to keep such a prestigious firm in our city,” Newport Beach Mayor Mike Henn said in a prepared statement. “The Irvine Co. has presented Newport Beach with a world-class building from a world-class architect. We believe the building will complement Newport Center and benefit the local economy.”