Next year, Lincoln Property Company (LPC) plans to break ground on Flight, a 38-acre campus that is being marketed as the first ground-up creative office development in Orange County.  Alcion Ventures of Boston is partnering on the development.

The project, which would rise on Barranca Avenue in the City of Tustin, would create a collection of low-rise and mid-rise structures totaling 470,000 square feet of office space.  A series of four-story buildings will cater to larger tenants, offering floor plates between 90,000 square feet and 130,000 square feet.  Smaller buildings at the adjoining “Platform” campus would cater to companies seeking spaces between 7,000 square feet and 15,000 square feet.  Both would be served by 15,000 square feet of joint amenities, including a food hall, a community center and conference space.

Parke Miller, an Executive Vice President with LPC’s Southern California Division, described Flight as the result of a multi-year collaboration between the developer and the City of Tustin.  The two parties have been engaged in an exclusive negotiating agreement during that time period, in which LPC has moved forward with design work and permitting for the development.

Miller expects LPC to officially acquire the property in early 2017 and break ground shortly thereafter.  Flight is planned as a speculative development, meaning that LPC has not identified tenants for its buildings.  However, Miller stated that this has been the historic norm for most office complexes in Orange County, and continued to note that Flight has received significant interest from prospective tenants.

While Southern California is already home to a number of creative campuses, particularly in Playa Vista, Miller stated that Flight will be the first purpose-built development of this variety within Orange County.  Though some creative office space does exist, these projects have taken form by repositioning historic buildings.

The office campus, designed by Rios Clementi Hale Studios, took inspiration from the nearby John Wayne Airport, as well as the site’s past as Tustin’s Marine Air Corps Station.  The office buildings are portrayed with high, pitched ceilings, reminiscent of nearby aircraft hangars that date back to World War II.

The property is flanked by a large public park, now under construction by the City of Tustin. Combined with lush landscaping interspersed throughout the campus, the project offers an arboretum-like setting.

After receiving the unanimous approval of the Tustin City Council yesterday evening, the project is now targeting a groundbreaking date in February 2017.

After work proceeds for Flight, a second half of the development is expected to bring an additional 400,000 square feet of office space to the surrounding property.  The subsequent phase will likely be marketed to build-to-suit users looking for specialized space.