Big Capistrano Office Project Keeps Momentum Building

For the first time in seven years, a sizable office project will be constructed in San Juan Capistrano. Colony Pacific Development, a Newport Beach developer, and TMC America LLC, a Newport Beach-based real estate investment company, will team up on a three-building, 143,000-square-foot complex.

Sycamore Commons, a $30-million low-rise office development, is expected to be completed by November on a nine-acre site at Junipero Serra and Interstate 5.

The new construction is but one sign of how much the market has recovered from its dreadful days this decade. In the John Wayne Airport area, which houses half of the county’s office space, the first new construction of office towers in nearly a decade was launched last summer. Now, development is spreading, as the San Joaquin Hills toll road and others provide greater access to South County.

“What drew me to it was the pent-up demand,” said Michael Hall, chief executive officer of Colony and president of TMC.

The Sycamore Commons development is expected to provide an economic boost to San Juan Capistrano. Eventually, more than 300 people will be employed at the site, city officials said.