Northridge Tech Hub

Earlier this month, architectural design firm Ware Malcomb announced the completion of the Mix at Harman Campus, a 330,000-square-foot of creative office and retail redevelopment at 8500 Balboa Blvd. in Northridge. A total of six buildings stand on the 44-acre property: three office buildings and three retail buildings, which includes a new L.A. Fitness center. Creative office space consists of 207,384 square feet. According to industry sources, the first tenant to sign a lease at the Mix’s new creative office space was Facebook Inc. The nation’s fifth-largest company, with a market cap of $445 billion, committed to 70,000 square feet. Given this auspicious inaugural lease deal, Valley civic circles and business leaders appear not only bullish about the prospects of the Mix as a tech-friendly office campus, but as a harbinger of what may follow for the region. Adaptive workspace Irvine-based Ware Malcomb provided master planning, architecture, interior design, and branding services for the San Fernando Valley project. But it was Newport Beach developers Shubin Nadal Realty Investors and New York-headquartered financial partner DRA Advisors that revamped the 44-acre Balboa Boulevard site, which they purchased in 2014 based on its tenant roster, access to nearby freeways and the Van Nuys Airport, and regional demographics. Shubin Nadal, a partnership of Bill Shubin and Lonnie Nadal, represents more than 30 years of commercial property development experience with a particular focus on Los Angeles County, including the San Fernando Valley. The firm’s principals have acquired, developed and managed more than $5 billion worth of investment properties. “It’s the largest project we’ve ever done,” Shubin told the Business Journal. Shubin said the Mix’s first major tenant signed on in early 2017 while the renovation was underway. A nondisclosure agreement prevents him from revealing or discussing the tenant. However, other industry sources have identified it as Facebook. A second tenant, biotech company HemaCare, signed on in mid-2017. It moved into the Mix on Nov. 15. “We were kind of working those two (tenants) simultaneously,” said Daniel Goldman, DRA Advisors’ managing director. Harman International Industrial Inc., the audio equipment manufacturer owned by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., remains on the property, maintaining a 237,941-square-foot facility where it makes its JBL brand of speakers and headphones. The Mix also includes two large traditional office buildings that are leased to health care companies such as Pharmavite, a vitamin and herbal supplements maker owned by Japanese health care company Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.; and Heritage Provider Network, an affiliate of Regal Medical Group Inc. The development features a Town Square Park, a central landscaped courtyard which includes outdoor dining areas with pergola and food truck space and a bocce ball court. Inside the main building, the developers kept about 65,000 square feet of the complex as industrial space, breaking up the remaining 142,000 square feet into five separate suites. Down the middle of the renovated portion runs a 20,000-square-foot common corridor. A cavernous feel and ultra-high ceilings bely the building’s industrial soul, and Ware Malcomb added large skylights and windows to invite big swathes of natural light. Carpet and polished concrete cover the floor as glass informs the tall corridor-facing doors and office suite walls. “This is classic adaptive reuse,” DRA’s Martin Coyne said last year. “It’s kind of having the old and the new blended together.” The central corridor evokes a modern art gallery with open-air windows, natural light and high ceilings. Creative office elements include Wi-Fi, sitting booths, huddle rooms, casual furniture groupings and wall-sized murals by art students from nearby California State University – Northridge. Radwan Madani, principal at Ware Malcomb’s Los Angeles office, said that the project’s three-year timeline, from design to completion, is not only fast but rare, attributing the assignment’s fluidity to his firm’s “extensive experience in creative adaptive. That was the key for the successful delivery of the project.” The Mix, Madani said, is comparable to creative adaptive office campuses his firm has designed in L.A., such as the 210,000-square-foot Elevon in El Segundo, home to the L.A. Lakers’ headquarters. Evolving office market A funny thing happened from the Mix’s start years ago to today: “amenities” became the buzzword in the office market. “The one thing that has changed since we started the project and now is the real need for companies like this to provide more than just the physical improvement. You also have to provide social opportunities for tenants and prospective tenants,” said Shubin, who has enlisted a firm to “help create events more of a work experience rather than just a physical plan for these tenants.” Many tech companies are competing fiercely for employees by offering services that appeals to younger recruits. “It’s all part of the formula for success,” continued Shubin, who pegs the beginnings of such employer offerings to 2014 but believes the amenities ante-upping —including programing such as concerts, films, lectures and outdoor games — has accelerated in the past couple of years. “Now that’s leading into commercial developments and those expectations are important to the workforce and, therefore, important to the employers,” Shubin said. Tech-hub harbinger? Shubin Nadal and DRA Advisors view the Mix as Northridge’s shiny new jewel. “We’ve created this park-like center,” Goldman said. “The use of the space is certainly more open and creative.” Moreover, Shubin and Goldman hope the Mix will transcend Balboa Boulevard and become a catalyst for more incoming tech, biotech and entertainment companies to the region. “There’s a lot of compelling reasons to be there,” Shubin said. “We’re probably in the dead center of the Valley.” Civic officials and local business leaders hope so, too. “The Mix is just the beginning of an economic transformation happening throughout Northridge and Chatsworth that will bring new opportunities and jobs to our communities,” District 12 City Councilmember Mitchell Englander told the Business Journal. “Across the region, we are seeing light-industrial spaces repurposed to meet the needs of emerging companies. These communities possess the skills and access to educational infrastructure that makes locating and growing a business here a sure bet.” Added Northridge Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Stephanie Schwinn: “The addition of technology companies on the scale of Facebook opens up enormous opportunities for our already vibrant business community regarding job creation and joint venture possibilities with CSUN and private businesses. The creation of The Mix complex and the companies it is attracting is further evidence that Northridge is seen as a thriving business destination. Facebook joins Harman, Medtronics plc, Cal Net Technology Group and other tech companies who have wisely chosen Northridge as their base.” Even ahead of its opening, the Mix received praise and accolades. In March, the complex garnered a Gold Award for Best Mixed-Use Project at the Business Journal’s 2018 Commercial Real Estate Awards. ‘Teen Wolf’ bloodline The Mix at Harman’s narrative began three years ago with the exodus of the MTV production company behind the hit series “Teen Wolf” after Shubin Nadal and New Remote Productions could not reach a lease agreement. Shubin Nadal was not willing to do a short-term lease and the “Teen Wolf” producers could not do a long-term lease. The “Teen Wolf” production space formerly occupied a 115,000-square-foot industrial building that was demolished and replaced with what is today an L.A. Fitness building and two multiple-tenant retail buildings. “Our business plan evolved as we rolled up our sleeves,” said DRA’s Goldman. “We were able to pivot to capture the demand in the market (for retail and creative office).” Having identified that a fitness center and fast-food outlets would enhance the enterprise, Shubin Nadal signed L.A. Fitness, which opened in June, followed by a succession of fast-casual chains: Chipotle, Jersey Mike’s, Baja Grill, Five Guys and Pizza Press. Pending tenant improvements, another four restaurants will arrive by early 2019, as will a nail salon. Working with brokerage CBRE Group Inc., Shubin Nadal is currently entertaining offers to usher in between one and four tenants into the remaining office space. While tech and entertainment companies may appear to be the sexiest variety of industry to round out the Mix’s tenant list, such agreements are not preordained, according to the developer. “I wouldn’t say we have a bias,” he said. “The types of tenants that have expressed interest in this product are tenants that have needs for one large floor areas and not on multiple floors – the type of business that requires assembly work or research work or lab work.”