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Los Angeles-based mutual fund manager Capital Group Cos. is set to start building a 520,000-square-foot Irvine campus that's been years in the making.
Capital Group, which operates the American Funds Group of about 30 mutual funds, plans to start work on a five-building complex in the Irvine Spectrum in September, according to spokesman Chuck Freadhoff.
The campus is set for 35 acres of land bought from The Irvine Company.
The project stands to be among the largest office developments-and among the biggest of any kind-in Orange County this year.
It could end up being second only to chipmaker Broadcom Corp.'s 700,000-square-foot campus set to break ground in Irvine's University Research Park later this year.
Even so, the Capital Group project isn't as big as first envisioned. Back in 2001, Capital Group was looking to buy 52 acres for a campus of about 1 million square feet.
Capital Group initially looked at Northern Sphere, a massive Irvine Co. development that calls for some 12,000 homes as well as businesses north of the former El Toro Marine base.
Then came a legal fight with an environmental group over Northern Sphere. That prompted Capital Group to work with the Irvine Co. on the current site in the Spectrum.
"We found we could accomplish what we needed to in another area without being involved in other issues," Freadhoff said.