Broadcom buys its Irvine office building

Computer chip and software developer Broadcom purchased the Irvine office compound it rented in the latest example of a well-funded company taking advantage of depressed real estate prices to switch from renter to owner. Broadcom paid its former landlord, PRP Real Assets, $325 million for the 660,000-square-foot research campus near the junction of the 5 and 405 freeways in one of the largest office sales in Southern California in recent years. The unusual deal was a reacquisition for Broadcom, which developed the property as an office and research-and-development complex before selling the campus for roughly $443 million in 2017. At that time, it agreed to lease it for 20 years, real estate data provider CoStar said.