The Kelemen Company plans to turn a third of a 10-story office tower in Irvine into medical facilities.
The locally based investor was given entitlements to convert 115,000 square feet into medical offices at The Atrium at 19200 Von Karman Avenue, near John Wayne Airport, the Orange County Business Journal reported.
The 335,100-square-foot Atrium, built in 1986, is near a $1.3 billion medical complex being built by the University of California, Irvine, including a 144-bed acute care hospital.
The landlord plans to provide offices for a variety of medical services at the twin towers linked by a soaring glass atrium.
“This entitlement not only supports the expanding healthcare sector but also reinforces our dedication to improving our community’s overall quality of life,” Tibor Kelemen, CEO of The Kelemen Company, said in a statement.
The Kelemen Company bought the Atrium building in 2018 for $106.8 million, or $352 per square foot.
The property now serves as the headquarters of Index Fund Advisors, and includes such tenants as the Orange County Community Foundation.
The ground floor features Bistango, a restaurant popular among OC executives.
Central Orange County’s market for healthcare services has been growing, according to CBRE.
Vacancy for medical offices in the Greater Airport Area was 5.9 percent, versus 5.6 percent for central O.C. and 6.3 percent for the county as a whole.
Of the 592,700 square feet of health-related buildings under construction this year, nearly 35,000 square feet will be dedicated to medical office uses, according to CBRE. The rest will go toward hospital-based uses.
The outlook for health-related facilities is strong as “demand for healthcare services should continue growing as the population grows and the youngest Baby Boomers turn 60,” Colliers reported.
The Kelemen Company, founded in 2017, has 1 million square feet of commercial assets under management in Orange County, according to its LinkedIn page.
— Dana Bartholomew