RE Column

Re column/garcia/25″/dt1st/mike2nd By SHELLY GARCIA Staff Reporter Douglas, Emmett & Co. is expected to close escrow next month on the McNeill Plaza office tower at the southeast corner of Sepulveda and Ventura boulevards in Sherman Oaks, according to sources. If the deal goes through as expected, Douglas, Emmett would own three of the four properties that sit along Sherman Oaks’ major intersection. The company last year acquired the Sherman Oaks Galleria at the northwest corner of the intersection and, last summer, it bought the 171,000-square-foot Glendale Federal Bank building and adjoining properties on the northeast corner. Douglas, Emmett officials declined to comment, but others close to the deal said the company has agreed to pay close to $200 a square foot for McNeill Plaza, a 375,000-square-foot, class-A property. With those three properties, Douglas, Emmett is expected to spruce up the intersection, adding landscaping and other details that would give the thoroughfare a unified look similar to what the company created on San Vicente Boulevard in Brentwood after acquiring many office properties there. McNeill Plaza is part of a portfolio of properties owned by John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. The company had put an entire package of about 25 Western region properties up for sale in July, but recently began breaking apart that portfolio and selling individual buildings. “In general, a portfolio of properties is not as attractive to buyers as it was six months ago because of the capital market situation,” said Kevin McGuire, vice president for John Hancock’s real estate investment group in Boston. Banks and other entities that once financed such portfolio acquisitions have pulled back as a result of losses they have sustained in international markets and the recent Wall Street volatility. McGuire said John Hancock is now considering individual sales of all its West Coast portfolio properties, including other Valley buildings in Woodland Hills, Encino and Westlake Village. He declined to comment on the status of sales negotiations on any of those buildings, saying company policy prohibits commenting on acquisitions in progress. Meanwhile, Douglas, Emmett is attempting to evict Robinson’s-May, an anchor tenant in the Sherman Oaks Galleria, in order to shift a portion of the center’s retail space to office use. A hearing on that issue has been set for Dec. 7. Big development plans Investment Development Services Inc. has completed two major property acquisitions and is proceeding with plans to develop projects on each of the sites. Its plans are for a business park in Newbury Park and an office complex in Westlake Village. The first deal involved IDS acquiring a 100-acre parcel that had been the site of a Northrop Grumman Corp. manufacturing complex in Newbury Park for an undisclosed sum. That property, which has been vacant since the late 1980s, includes four buildings with a combined 577,000 square feet of space. IDS plans to refurbish three of the existing buildings for R & D;, industrial and office uses. The fourth structure will be torn down and the land, along with additional acreage on the site, will be subdivided into parcels and put up for sale. The envisioned $50 million business campus, called Conejo Spectrum, is being developed on the site near the Rancho Conejo Boulevard exit on the Ventura (101) Freeway. IDS also acquired an 18-acre parcel in Westlake Village for $16 million, according to Hayden C. Eaves III and David G. Mgrublian, IDS managing directors. The company plans to develop a $50 million, 326,400-square-foot business campus at Lindero Canyon Road site. Plans call for three separate two-story, class-A office buildings with a combined 326,400 square feet of space. The buildings will range in size from 62,000 square feet to 134,000 square feet. The development is to be called Westlake North Business Park. IDS expects to begin construction on that project in March, with occupancy slated for December 1999. Frequent flyer Aviation Sales Co. signed a five-year lease for 7,729 square feet of space in the Valley Corporate Business Park on Roscoe Boulevard in Van Nuys, according to Duane Cody, a broker with Cushman & Wakefield Inc. who represented the tenant and landlord in the deal. Aviation Sales, which distributes aircraft parts, had been subleasing space in the business park until now. The company is moving into space formerly occupied by Alfred Publishing which, in turn, moved into larger quarters in the business park. The five-year lease is valued in excess of $765,000. Warner Atrium gets new tenant Automatic Data Processing has signed a five-year lease for 13,000 square feet in the Warner Atrium building in Warner Center, according to John Battle, a broker with Lee & Associates who represented the landlord, Archon Group. ADP plans to relocate its regional offices in Van Nuys to the new space, which has been vacant. The lease is valued at $1.2 million. Painting the town Dunn Edwards Corp. has inked a deal for a build-to-suit retail center at Sepulveda and Victory boulevards. A 10,000-square-foot facility is being constructed for the paint retailer, on 33,000 square feet of land. The multi-year lease is valued at $1.8 million, according to J. Richard Leyner, Cal Menzer and Diana Parker at Capital Commercial/NAI, who represented the lessor, Victory Sepulveda Associates. Dunn Edwards was represented by Bruce Heathcote of Lee & Associates. News and notes The 180-unit Glade Apartment complex has been acquired by Abra Management for $11.3 million, according to Jonathan Weiss, regional manager at Marcus & Millichap. The apartment, located at 6644 and 6670 Glade Ave. in Woodland Hills, was sold by W.H. Glade L.P. Marcus & Millichap also brokered the sale of The Palms, a 149-unit apartment building in Canoga Park. LDD Corp. paid $6 million for the property, which was sold by the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. The owners of LA Gym Equipment have acquired a 16,000-square-foot industrial building at 12301 Sherman Way for $1.2 million, according to Liz Evans and Mark Ranftle of Capital Commercial/NAI, who represented the buyer. LA Gym Equipment plans to relocate its offices, distribution and retail facilities to the new building. The seller, Boal Family Trust, was represented by Dick Eckles of Westcord.