Rockwell Collins Leases 213,000 SF for $37M

TUSTIN, CA-Rockwell Collins has signed a 10-year, $37-million lease for the entire 212,979 sf of the Tustin Commons office project, according to landlord Broadreach Capital Partners. The communications and aviation electronics company will consolidate its Costa Mesa, Pomona and Tustin operations at the project, which is a joint venture of Palo Alto-based Broadreach and Newport Beach-based Stonewood Properties.

Tustin Commons occupies a site west of Interstate 5 near Jamboree Road and is composed of three two-story office buildings ranging from 51,000 sf to 93,000 sf. The joint venture owner, BRCP Stonewood Tustin LLC, bought the then-vacant complex in July 2004 and has since invested approximately $20 million to modernize it.

The joint venture’s renovations have upgraded the project into a class A office and R&D campus, according to David Simon, managing director of Broadreach Capital Partners, who heads the real estate private equity firm’s operations in Southern California. Rockwell Collins plans to move its employees from Tustin and Costa Mesa into the new facility in March 2006 with the Pomona move set for June 2006.

The move to Tustin Commons will consolidate Rockwell Collins business units that produce cabin electronics products for commercial aviation customers, mechanical filters for high frequency radio communication and in-flight entertainment systems for commercial aviation, according to Bob Chiusano, EVP and COO of Rockwell Collins Commercial Systems.

Stonewood Properties is responsible for the day-to-day management, leasing and construction on the Tustin Commons project, according to Jim Wood of Stonewood Properties, who says the JV’s business plan from the outset was to transform the outdated office complex in to a modern campus-style project. The Broadreach-Stonewood joint venture was represented in the lease by John Collins of Voit Commercial Brokerage, with the tenant represented by Jeff Manley of Cresa Partners.