SAN DIEGO – H.G. Fenton Company announces that The Art Institute of California – San Diego is expanding its San Diego campus with a 10-year, $8,750,000 lease for the 25,635-square-foot building located adjacent to its current facility in H.G. Fenton Company's master-planned Mission Valley Heights business community.

The lease brings The Art Institute's San Diego campus to just over 100,000 square feet.

The Art Institute, a design, media, fashion and culinary arts school serving the greater San Diego County community, moved into a 75,000-square-foot build-to-suit at 7650 Mission Valley Road in 2002. The state-of-the-art facility centralized The Art Institute's San Diego campus, making it more accessible for students from throughout the county to take advantage of its leading-edge postsecondary education programs.

The Art Institute's new space, a two-story building located at 7675 Mission Valley Road, was developed by H.G. Fenton Company in 2004 - one of several build-to-suit and multi-tenant buildings master-planned and developed by the company as part of its 1-million-square-foot Mission Valley Heights business park.

"We are committed to meeting the needs of our tenants by providing quality work environments in key locations throughout San Diego County," said Kevin Hill, vice president of leasing with H.G. Fenton Company. "We value The Art Institute's tenancy and are delighted to be able to accommodate the school's growing space needs."

In the transaction, Ron Magnaghi of Cushman & Wakefield's San Diego office represented The Art Institute in the transaction. H.G. Fenton Company represented itself.

Located on the northeastern rim of H.G. Fenton Company's master-planned Carlsbad Research Center, Carlsbad Medical Center offers spectacular back canyon views to the west, north and east.

"The Art Institute of California - San Diego has valued our partnership with H.G. Fenton Company over the years," said Elizabeth Erickson, president of The Art Institute of California - San Diego. "Together we have been able to provide Art Institute students with an exceptional creative learning environment. We are thrilled to embark on this important milestone and look forward to continued growth."

The Art Institute will open its new building for classes in spring 2008, when tenant improvements are complete.

Mission Valley Heights is one of the largest master-planned corporate communities in central San Diego. In addition to The Art Institute, other Mission Valley Heights tenants include Hassco, Scripps Health, Chapman University's San Diego campus, Ikon Office Solutions, L-3 Communications, California Orthopedic Institute, and H.G. Fenton Company's corporate offices.

Founded in 1906, H.G. Fenton Company is one of San Diego County’s largest, privately-owned real estate organizations dedicated to land and building development, property ownership and management, and equity investment.

Over the years, the H.G. Fenton organization has been responsible for the successful development of many hundreds of acres of land and finished projects that include Mission City, Fenton Marketplace, Mission Valley Heights, Fenton Technology Park, Carlsbad Raceway, and Fenton Carlsbad Research Center. Its building development efforts have resulted in over 2 million square feet of headquarters, build-to-suit and speculative space in the office, industrial, medical and educational sectors.

Additionally, the organization owns and manages a real estate portfolio that includes over 3 million square feet of office and industrial space, as well as 2,800 apartment homes. Through Fenton Investment Company, the organization seeks quality real estate investment opportunities throughout the southwestern United States for its $100 million equity investment fund.

H.G. Fenton Company is headquartered in San Diego at 7577 Mission Valley Road, San Diego, Calif., 92108.  The company website is www.hgfenton.com.