TUSTIN, CA—One of the advantages of developing within a master-planned community is that developers can rely on the master-planning entity for infrastructure investment and coordination of all the moving parts, Lincoln Property Co.'s EVP Kevin Hayes tells GlobeSt.com. As we recently reported, the City of Tustin recently entered into an exclusive negotiation agreement with Lincoln, a Dallas-based real estate developer with Southern California offices, to pursue development for Cornerstone I at Tustin Legacy—a proposed creative-office campus that would be built on 37 acres of land at the southwest edge of Tustin Legacy, a master-planned community. Based on a proposal presented to Tustin by Lincoln, approximately 760,000 square feet of creative-office space is proposed along with almost 100,000 square feet of support uses, a food hall, supporting retail, outdoor meeting and gathering spaces and structured and surface parking. We spoke with Hayes about the development and the challenges to creating the project.
GlobeSt.com: What are the challenges to developing such a complex and large project as Cornerstone I?
Hayes: The City of Tustin has done a terrific job master-planning the Tustin Legacy site, which includes Cornerstone I. Their efforts have reduced the number of complexities, but our company is still facing a large project that requires a great deal of time and energy to ensure it is properly executed. One of our biggest tasks will be planning for and coordination of the various players involved in the project. As we work through the design, marketing, financing and physical construction of Cornerstone I, we will certainly experience some very predictable and unpredictable challenges. We will address these pieces concurrently, and in collaboration with the City, during the DDA period that is now in progress.
GlobeSt.com: Are creative-office campuses becoming more difficult to develop due to all the additional on-site amenities?
Hayes: When you combine different product types in a single development, it is naturally more complex. When it is well executed, however, the result is extraordinary and worth more than the sum of its parts. The retail components will benefit from what we believe will be an iconic office offering. Similarly, the office users will appreciate seamless access to their favorite restaurants, the ability to grab coffee and work wirelessly, taking a walk in Tustin's future Legacy Park and utilizing the onsite-gym-locker facilities.
That is the advantage of developing within a master-planned community. Tustin has overseen the planning and made significant infrastructure investment to connect residents and businesses with a collection of quality retail and restaurant amenities, open space, quality neighborhoods, schools and services.
GlobeSt.com: What will this project offer in the Tustin market that's unique?
Hayes: Cornerstone I will be unique to both Tustin and the entire Orange County marketplace. Office users in our market work largely out of buildings designed and constructed in the 1980s, or a version thereof. When one considers the freedom and flexibility that new technology affords compared to prior eras, it is incredible that the way in which building space is used has not adapted. Lincoln intends to deliver a product that is transformative, collaborative and defining of the corporate cultures that occupy it.
GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about this project?
Hayes: The team here at Lincoln is working quickly to be the first to market with new product and to be the only truly creative, planned office offering in the county.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
