The Hileman Co. has acquired a 169,000-square-foot office-manufacturing complex in Thousand Oaks that it plans to transform into a new 275,000-square-foot, low-density technology campus. Hileman acquired the site for $16 million from Realty Bancorp Equities of Woodland Hills. It anticipates investing another $25 million to completely redesign the property, which will be renamed The Arbors from Conejo Corporate Pointe. Now may be an opportune time to develop, given the Conejo Valley’s office vacancy rate of 8.2 percent. Jack Hileman, president of the company, said the plan is to turn around a well-located eyesore. “We’ve been pursuing this property for quite some time because we think it’s a fantastic location on the tech corridor,” Hileman said. “We’re buying a project that’s been fairly overlooked.” The complex, at 649 Lawrence Drive, sits on 16 acres fronting the Ventura (101) Freeway. It is adjacent to the corporate headquarters of Amgen Inc. and Xircom. Three one- and two-story buildings are on the site currently, one of which is 100 percent occupied by Conexant Systems Inc., a major semiconductor supplier. Hileman plans to demolish the two remaining, obsolete manufacturing buildings and develop in their place a trio of two-story class-A office buildings. Construction is scheduled to begin in November. CB is handling the leasing. The Arbors will be Hileman’s first major development under its own name. But the L.A.-based real estate firm has served as development manager for Kearny Real Estate Co.’s Pasadena Corporate Park and managed construction of Infonet Services’ corporate headquarters in El Segundo. Conejo Spectrum Two new deals are fast filling the Conejo Spectrum, the $50 million business park in Thousand Oaks. Investment Development Services Inc., the developer of the 100-acre center, has signed Alcatel, a telecommunications and Internet technology company, to a $10 million lease for 200,000 square feet of space in the largest of the remodeled buildings on the site. Alcatel, which inked a 10-year deal, is expanding from its current location in Calabasas. At the same time, a 2.5-acre parcel inside the park was sold to Merex Corp., an aerospace parts manufacturer. The company plans to build a $2.5 million facility on the site. IDS has been renovating three industrial buildings on the parcel, which formerly housed a Northrop Grumman Co. plant. In addition to the buildings, which total 502,000 square feet, the development includes land parcels available for sale and lease. Alcatel and Merex will join Xircom, which earlier signed a deal for a 200,000-square-foot build-to-suit in the center. Ken Ashen at CB Richard Ellis represented Alcatel and Nick Gregg of CB represented Merex in the two latest deals. John DeGrinis and Michael Tingus of Colliers Seeley and IDS represented the property owners, Conejo Spectrum Building Associates LLC and Conejo Spectrum Land Associates LLC. Chatsworth Mega-Deal One of the biggest blocks of space in the Chatsworth market was snatched up last week by the County of Los Angeles in a 10-year, $34 million lease deal. The county is taking 164,500 square feet at CT Realty Corp.’s Chatsworth Business Park, located at 21415 and 21615 Plummer St. The park consists of two, two-story office buildings totaling 230,000 square feet. Sanyo Fisher occupies 65,000 square feet at one of the buildings. The county will take the remaining space there and all of the other building for its Department of Public Social Services. “It’s one of the only opportunities in the area of this magnitude,” said Dave Ball, vice president of development for Newport Beach-based CT Realty. Four county programs CalWORKs, Greater Avenues for Independence and the administrative offices of Medi-Cal and In-Home Supportive Services will be moving from Panorama City and Canoga Park in December. The county will also have a child-care center at the site, for approximately 75 children of employees. The Chatsworth location will serve as a one-stop shop for social services in the west San Fernando Valley, Ball said. CT Realty acquired the project last November from the government of Singapore for $12.5 million. The company is currently in the process of investing $11 million in upgrades to the 14-year-old complex. “It presented a value-added opportunity for us,” Ball said. Ken Ashen, Greg Geraci and Bennett Robinson of CB Richard Ellis represented CT Realty and Vincent Licato and William Twomey of Licato Realty & Associates represented the county. West Hills Fills Up Countrywide Home Loans signed a 10-year lease for 140,000 square feet of office space at West Hills Corporate Village, bringing the 560,000-square-foot office park to full occupancy. The developers of the property, which formerly housed Hughes Aircraft Co., valued the deal at $34 million. The Countrywide lease follows deals with Boeing, IBM and Computer Associates, which are also occupying the center. Jim Travers and Steve Eyler of Travers Realty represented Countrywide. Mark T. Sullivan and David Kimball of Julien J. Studley Inc. and John Ollen of Insignia/ESG Inc. represented the owners and developers, Regent Properties Inc. and Shamrock Holdings of California. North Hollywood Sale A private investor has purchased an 11,802-square-foot industrial building in North Hollywood for $575,000. The property, at 7349 Coldwater Canyon Blvd., is fully occupied. David Young of NAI Capital Commercial represented the buyer, James Clune. Mike Sheptenko of Told Partners represented the seller Norm London. Staff reporter Shelly Garcia can be reached at (818) 710-2731, ext. 4316, or at [email protected].
