Vocational School Expands Into 35,000 SF

ORANGE, CA-CNI Vocational College has consolidated two Orange County locations and expanded by 7,000 square feet in a seven-year, 35,462-square-foot office lease in two buildings at the Town & Country Office Park, according to UGL Equis. Drew Netherton, a UGL Equis vice president in the company’s Irvine office who represented CNI in the lease, tells GlobeSt.com that the fast-growing vocational college was already occupying 12,000 square feet of space at the Town & Country project and 16,000 square feet at a location in Costa Mesa. It sought the additional square footage to accommodate its consolidation as well as its expansion.

CNI, which trains students for healthcare careers such as surgical technology and vocational nursing, “wanted to unify their campus and to expand,” says Netherton. He notes that the vocational college has been growing steadily as the economic downturn prompts growing numbers of people to go back to school for career changes.

Netherton explains that CNI chose the Orange location for its consolidation and expansion for a number of reasons: The facilities are well-suited for its needs and the surrounding demographics match its student enrollment. In addition, the new lease included expansion options as well as signage on both of the two buildings that the vocational college occupies at Town & Country Office Park.

The Town & Country project is owned by the Colton Co. and is situated near Interstate 5, the Main Place Mall and state highways 22, 55 and 57. Colton was represented by Jon McClintock , the company’s CFO.

The lease, which was valued at approximately $5.7 million, includes administrative offices as well as classroom space. It comes with an all-inclusive turnkey package of tenant improvements, Netherton notes.

CNI considered a number of different options in Orange County before choosing to renew and expand at the Town & Country location. Netherton, who has worked with CNI since 2004, says that several properties in the immediate area would have qualified, but CNI chose the Town & Country space because it offered the best combination of features and economics.