Historical Highlights
The Koll Company, founded by Don Koll in 1962, started as a regional general construction firm and rapidly grew into a full-service real estate company with expertise in development, acquisition, construction, brokerage, and property management services. During these past six decades The Koll Company has enjoyed unprecedented growth and has acquired and developed over 150 million square feet of office, industrial, retail, resort and golf course properties throughout the United States, Mexico and the Pacific Rim. Today the company is a well-capitalized full-service real estate operating company, which is run by an experienced executive team that is grounded by the long history of the company but are also visionary leaders.
1962
Donald M. Koll establishes the Don Koll Company, Inc. as a regional construction firm specializing in building custom homes in Orange County, CA.
1964
Don Koll Company acquires several land parcels and begins development of a variety of industrial/warehouse parks around Orange County Airport (later named John Wayne Airport), pioneering the concept of the multi-tenant industrial business park.
1968
Representing one of the first joint venture financial partnerships in the real estate industry, Don Koll Company and Aetna Life & Casualty Company partner to develop Airport Business Center, a 68 building, 1.2 million square foot multi tenant business park on 75 acres in Irvine, California.
1972
Donald Koll Company celebrates its 10-year anniversary, having developed more than 5 million square feet of industrial facilities.
1976
Don Koll Company changes its name to The Koll Company with divisions focused on development, acquisition, construction, brokerage, and property management.
1977
The Koll Company is recognized by the White House as a leader in the real estate development industry for its focus on creating environments of excellence.
1979
The Koll Company begins construction on Koll Center San Jose, a 1 million square foot master-planned office park in San Jose, CA.
1981
The Koll Company breaks ground on Koll Center Irvine, a 1.5 million square foot master-planned office park in Irvine, CA.
1982
Representing the largest R&D/industrial park in the San Diego area, The Koll Company breaks ground on the 560 acre Carlsbad Research Center (CRC).
1983
The Koll Company commences construction on a 1 million square foot corporate headquarters facility for Hughes Aircraft Company in Los Angeles, CA.
1985
The Koll Company expands its northwestern operations with the development of the 140 acre Koll Center Bothell, a 1.4 million square foot industrial center in Bothell, WA as well as Koll Center Bellevue, a 1.5 million square foot office park in Bellevue, WA.
1986
Koll purchases the 71 room Palmilla Hotel in Los Cabos, Mexico including the surrounding 900 acres and commences planning and development of the area’s first world class mixed use golf and resort community.
1987
Representing the largest mixed use development in Arizona, construction begins on the 1.7 million square foot Phoenix Plaza.
1988
The Koll Company breaks ground on Koll Center San Diego, a 385,000 square foot office center and becomes the first major U.S. real estate firm to develop an industrial park in Mexico with the development of the 87 acre La Frontera Business Center.
1989
The Koll Company expands its operations into Texas with the opening of its Dallas office in order to focus on its build-to-suit business with major corporations.
1992
Koll completes construction and opens Latin America’s first Jack Nicklaus signature designed golf course; Palmilla in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Don Koll, Peter Bren and Chuck Schreiber form KBS as a registered investment advisor.
1994
Koll begins to develop real estate in Asia through a joint venture with Thailand based C.P. Group.
Koll opens its second Jack Nicklaus signature golf course in Mexico and within the first year of operation the Cabo del Sol Golf Course is ranked number 68 in the world by Golf Digest Magazine.
1995
Koll completes San Marcos Town Center, a 60 acre mixed use Public/Private development in San Marcos, CA, which includes a City Hall, Library, Community Center, office building, public space, and expansion land.
1997
The Koll Company’s property management operation, having grown to nearly 200 million square feet under management and one of the nation’s largest property managers, is sold to CB Commercial Real Estate Group (CBRE) for $145 million and Don Koll joins the Board of Directors.
Koll’s development activity for the year exceeds 12 million square feet and $1.3 billion in construction costs.
1998
The Koll Company forms a new venture (Koll Development Company) with New York-based NorthStar Capital and develops over 10 million square feet exceeding $1 billion in construction costs during the year.
1999
Koll Development Company’s development activity for the year again exceeds 10 million square feet and $1 billion in construction costs.
2001
Donald Koll and Gerald Yahr re-launch The Koll Company in order to focus on the development and acquisition of industrial, office, and resort properties.
2003
The Koll Company purchases over 400,000 square feet of Industrial buildings in Southern California and commences development on 27 buildings totaling 140,000 square feet in Irvine, CA.
2004
The Koll Company and the $7.4 billion Public Employees Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI) form a joint venture to acquire $125 million in multi-tenant industrial business parks throughout Southern California and purchases over 250,000 square feet of Industrial buildings throughout Southern California.
2005
The Koll Company and PERSI increase the joint venture to $500 million in purchasing power to expand their focus from multi-tenant industrial to now include industrial, office and development activities throughout the Western United States and selected other markets.
The Koll Company purchases approximately 800,000 square feet of industrial and office properties throughout Southern California and Nevada and commences development on three (3) new industrial development projects in Irvine, City of Industry, and Oceanside totaling nearly 600,000 square feet.
The Koll Company in partnership with Starwood Capital close escrow on the 22 acre historic site of the Hacienda Hotel in Cabo San Lucas and commence the demolition and redevelopment of a $325 million exclusive beachfront resort residential community which includes 30 beachfront villas and 203 stacked flat units. The project will include a premiere beach club and spa facility.
The Koll Company completes construction and sells out all 27 buildings in the 8.9 acre Koll Center in Irvine Spectrum project.
2006
The Koll Company acquires 22 multi-tenant office and light industrial properties in six states during 2006. The acquisitions add nearly 2.6 million square feet to a commercial real estate ownership portfolio that totals more than 5 million square feet in key markets throughout the western U.S by year’s end.
In addition, The Koll Company develops approximately 1.1 million square feet of office and industrial properties throughout Southern California.
2007
The Koll Company announces the opening of Koll Center Irvine III, a $57-million, 188,000-square-foot office and R&D park in Irvine Spectrum.
2008
The Koll Company announces the opening of the new Hacienda Beach Club and Residences in Cabo San Lucas. The exclusive development includes beachfront villas, stacked flat units and a premier beach club and spa.
2009
The Koll Company purchases approximately 200,000 square feet of industrial and office properties throughout Southern California. In addition, Koll purchases approximately five (5) acres in the City of Industry and commences development on a three (3) building development totaling approximately 100,000 square feet.
2012
The Koll Company celebrates its 50th anniversary and exceeds 150 million square feet of properties acquired and developed since its founding in 1962.
2014
The Koll Company in partnership with Rialto Capital sell 2929 Imperial, a 120,000 square foot office building in Brea, California for $21 million just two years after purchasing the property in June 2012 for under $11 million.
2015
Veteran real estate executive Scott Lanni, formerly with the Irvine Company and Lyon Apartment Communities, joins The Koll Company as a Principal.
The Koll Company and Rialto Capital expand their relationship with the acquisition of the 450,000 square foot office complex in Walnut Creek, California and the 185,000 square foot office tower in Cerritos, California.
2016
In one of the top 10 largest industrial transactions of the year, The Koll Company in partnership with Seera Investment Bank, based in the Kingdom of Bahrain, acquired a 1 million square foot distribution center in Phoenix, Arizona for under $75 million. The massive distribution building is fully leased to Amazon, a Fortune 50 international E-Commerce company.
2017
The Koll Company expands its operations in Las Vegas with the addition of The Gramercy, a 187,000 square foot mixed-use property.
2018
The Koll Company has a very active year acquiring several properties throughout southern California and Las Vegas including the acquisition of a cold storage facility in Los Angeles which expands the company’s cold storage portfolio. In addition, Koll sold several properties, most notably the $100 million sale of the Phoenix distribution building it purchased it 2016 and the sale of a parcel of land within Koll Center Newport slated for residential development.
The Koll Company also refinances Airport Business Center with a $170 million loan from Wells Fargo and Brookfield Asset Management.
2019
The Koll Company continues its acquisition strategy purchasing several industrial properties in Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas. In addition, The Koll Company continues to reinvest in its operating portfolio to enhance cash flow and maximize value.
2020
While 2020 was a challenging year with the spread of COVID-19 and the remote work environment, The Koll Company has been able to grow its portfolio and expand into the Sacramento and Salt Lake City markets. Koll acquired a multiple market portfolio of Industrial buildings and secured several long term leases on existing single tenant buildings within the existing portfolio.
