Emulex confirms move to Home Ranch

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- The high-tech world will combine with a symbol of

agricultural heritage as Emulex officials on Tuesday confirmed plans to

lease a large portion of Home Ranch, the former Segerstrom lima bean

farm.

Costa Mesa-based Emulex has outgrown its current home at Harbor

Gateway and will move its corporate headquarters to 14.5 acres of the

Home Ranch site, bordered by Susan Street, Harbor Boulevard and South

Coast Drive. The lease with C.J. Segerstrom & Sons calls for the

development of a two-story, campus-style headquarters, totaling 180,000

square feet.

The move will allow the company to house its engineers and

laboratories in one building, instead of the four buildings where they

are now spread out, Emulex President Paul Folino said.

Folino announced in November Emulex’s intent to occupy a piece of the

Home Ranch site, but final confirmation depended on project approval from

the City Council and a vote of the company’s board of directors.

Home Ranch or not, the company needed more space.

Supporters of the Home Ranch project -- which will bring a flagship

Ikea furniture store and a mix of industrial, commercial and residential

land use to the 93-acres plot of land just north of the San Diego Freeway

-- used Emulex’s need to relocate as a selling point for the project.

Councilman Gary Monahan, who voted in favor of the Home Ranch project

in November, said Tuesday he was glad the city could retain a company

such as Emulex.

“They are a very strong company, and it will be a good addition to the

Home Ranch site,” Monahan said.

Emulex, which is the leading supplier of computer storage networking

products, is a good example of the types of tenants the city can attract

with good quality project such as Home Ranch, Monahan said.

Paul Freeman, spokesman for C.J. Segerstrom & Sons, agreed, saying he

was pleased the company’s presence in the local business community could

continue.

Folino said the company preferred to stay in Costa Mesa, where it has

been based for the last 20 years, because it creates a minimal amount of

disruption for the employees. About 275 workers will move to the new

complex, which is scheduled to be completed in September 2003.

Ikea is also moving ahead with its work at the Home Ranch site. Ikea

officials are working with the city to complete preliminary work on the

southwestern portion, representatives of the retailer said.

Large trucks are scraping and drying out the soil before they put it

back as a base for the new store. The actual grading and building permits

will be issued sometime in the next few weeks.

Ikea is scheduled to open next spring.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .