Office Building Amenities Bulk Larger, Mean More

When a prospective office renter inquires about a building’s amenities these days, he means more than a barbershop in the basement or a cigar store in the lobby.

He is looking for a total environment, according to Richard M. Ortwein, president of the Koll Co.’s Newport Beach regional office, more than just the building itself.

Among the elements of such a total environment, Ortwein says, are hotels, restaurants, retail shops and services, cinemas, health clubs, important works of art by name sculptors--all substantial investments by the developer.

He cited his company’s Koll Center Irvine, a 95-acre project on which Koll will erect 17 office buildings. In addition, there are to be four hotels, seven major restaurants, aside from those in the hotels, a multiscreen cinema, a health club and art programs.

Landscaping has raised its sights, too; no longer is a plaza with some trees and plants enough (addition of a berm used to make it really something special). Nowadays, Ortwein said, it must be a total environment, with moving water, architectural structures, lighting and seating elements, in order to be satisfactory.