ima's Orange County office made a change in the summer of 2020. With a relationship with the Irvine Company since 1966, we are proud to move into an Irvine Company property. At the same time, expanding a relationship with UC Irvine that includes landscape design on several campus buildings and several thousand beds of student housing with UCI and American Campus Communities.
The Irvine Company Office Properties group highlighted ima as a new tenant, interviewing President, Bill Schulz, about the move:
In early 2020, the urban design and landscape architecture firm ima team found themselves in a bind. After a decade in an office building by John Wayne Airport, the building had been sold, their lease was expiring, and the new owners weren’t open to a lease extension.
“We were under a real time crunch and needed to move quickly,” recalls Bill Schulz, President and Founding Partner at ima.
“We were worried our lease would be up and we’d have nowhere to go. We were very familiar with Irvine Company–no one has better offices or better office locations in Orange County. But we thought our space needs were too small for them.”
Still, ima’s broker suggested Schulz speak with Irvine Company’s leasing team, and it was an instant match.
Other UCI Projects:
Plaza Verde
The landscape at UCI Plaza Verde is divided into six main zones across the former surface parking lot and bus storage. Internal Courtyards, Community Center and Activity lawn with Outdoor Kitchen lay within the heart of the development.
Additionally, the Campus streetscapes on California and Arroyo Streets and the Community Center Parking improve upon and create a campus-like experience for student circulation.
UCI Phase 4A
UCI's newest Student Housing consists of two buildings on approximately 13.3 acres. Building B is Plaza Verde which opened in 2019. Building A is in design and is approximately 236 Units and 886 beds on 3.3 acres. This project is being developed by American Campus Communities in partnership with UCI. It is planned for three openspace courtyards, a corner pocket park, and a 5,000sf community center.
This project represents the culmination of several thousand beds of student housing in an arc on the North and East edges of campus, following Campus Dr. and Culver Dr. respectively. ima is proud to have contributed landscape design for each of the developments with ACC and UCI for more than 15 years.
