OCERS HQ Building

2026020642

Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS)

NOE - Notice of Exemption

2/18/2026

2/18/2026

Brenda Shott

Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS)

Assistant CEO, Finance and Internal Operations

Lead/Public Agency / Parties Undertaking Project

P. O. Box 1229
Santa Ana, CA 92702

(714) 558-6200

bshott@ocers.org

1200 N. Tustin Ave., Santa Ana, CA 92705

Categorical Exemption

14 Cal. Code Regs. (State CEQA Guidelines) section 15302

The Project proposes to replace an existing professional services building with a new professional office building for OCERS headquarters. The new office building will be on the same site and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the prior office building. Specifically, the Project would occur on the same Project site (APN 400-152-02 totaling approximately 2.72 acres) as the existing use. The core operational characteristics—employee traffic, business hours, and professional services—remain largely unchanged. Although the nature of services differs slightly (from medical to administrative), the functional purpose of providing office-based services is substantially the same. While the existing building would be replaced by a building with additional square footage, the Project has substantially the same capacity of the existing use. The Project would generate the same number of PM peak-hour trips as well as fewer total trips overall compared to the existing use, and would provide comparable parking, showing that the functional capacity is not increased. None of the exceptions to the Class 2 exemption found in State CEQA Guidelines Section 15300.2 apply to the Project. No successive projects of the same or similar use within the vicinity of the Project are known or expected to occur over time that would result in cumulatively considerable impacts. Further, the Project would not result in significant environmental impacts that would be capable of combining with impacts from other cumulative projects to result in a cumulative impact. There are no known unusual circumstances that are applicable to the Project, which may result in a significant effect on the environment. The Project consists of the development of a new professional office building on a site that is currently developed with a professional office building and is already served by utilities and transportation. The Project site is not located within a State scenic highway corridor, does not contain historic resources, and is not included on any lists compiled pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code.