Realty Firm Sells Its Offices

Daily Pilot
by Andrew Edwards
Last updated: August 10th, 2005
www.dailypilot.com

The Koll Co., a Newport Beach-based real estate firm, announced Monday that it had sold its headquarters and is looking for a new home near John Wayne Airport.

The real estate company has used its 53,000-square-foot headquarters on Von Karman Avenue for 19 years. The building was sold to the Steadfast Companies, another Newport Beach real estate firm.

The selling price was not disclosed. Under the deal, Koll will be able to lease 7,500 square feet at the Von Karman building for three years.

Koll Co. managing principal Jerry Yahr said his company decided to sell its current headquarters partly because executives saw a good market to make a sale and because the firm occupies only about 25% of the Von Karman building.

The Koll Co. was founded in 1962 and restarted in 2001 by Donald Koll. The company went back into business after Koll left his post at the similarly named Koll Development Co. The companies shared the Von Karman building before the Koll Development Co. moved to Dallas . Before relocating to Texas , the Koll Development Co. was known as an aggressive builder of office space in Orange County.

The sale was not related to Koll Development Co.'s move to Dallas , Yahr said. The firms are not affiliated.

Yahr also said the sale is not connected to the 2001 Greenlight vote when Newport residents rejected plans to expand the Koll Center , an office park bounded by Von Karman Avenue , Birch Street and MacArthur Boulevard.

Koll company executives want to remain close to their current home.

"We want to stay in the airport [area], probably Newport Beach," Yahr said.

Original Article

Back to Top