Hoping to build a community of homes, a school and a church, The Seventh Day Adventist has acquired a 160-acre parcel of land in Simi Valley for $7 million. The property is part of a larger holding owned by Unocal Oil north of the site of the Simi Valley Town Center now under construction at First Street and Erringer Road. “Unocal had 2,400 acres spread across the city but they were really inaccessible,” said Brian Gabler, director of economic development for the city of Simi Valley. “There is now access because of the Simi Valley Town Center and the Big Sky development.” A number of homebuilders are currently constructing about 750 homes in the area, and roads are being built in what was previously an uninhabited area to support both the residential communities and the shopping mall due to open in October. The Seventh Day Adventist has had some preliminary conversations with officials of Simi Valley but still has a long way to go to get approval for its plans. A pre-screening hearing on January 24 will determine whether the project, in broad strokes at least, meets with the general plan land use objectives of the project, and if the group gets a go-ahead at that hearing, it will still have to seek a number of entitlements, zoning changes and other approvals before it can move forward. “The process is not even at the formal application stage,” said Sam Freed, a senior planner for the city of Simi Valley. “It would involve an amendment to the city’s general plan.” The property acquired by the church is currently entitled for a mix of land uses, including low density residential, medium density residential and open space. The Seventh Day Adventist is seeking a mix of medium density and moderate density residential development. Medium density housing calls for 3.2 units to 5 units per acre, and moderate density calls for 5.1 units to 10 units per acre. One consideration will likely be the hillsides on which the church is seeking to build. “We have a hillside protection ordinance,” said Gabler. “It depends on how much they’re developing into the slope areas, how much grading they want to do on the valley floor,” and other details of the development which have not yet been presented to the city. Steve Sojka, a councilman for Simi Valley, said that one concern would be to ensure that the entire Unocal site is developed with an overall vision and that the piece that the church is seeking to develop fits with that plan. “That whole area is called our West End Specific Plan, and it’s always been zoned for an industrial project,” said Sojka. “It’s never been about homes. So when they say homes, that puts up a red flag. That’s not what we need right now. Yet, if we have a major industrial park, sometimes it takes homes to fuel the infrastructure to build roads,” Sojka added. Although the larger property had been the site of oil fields, there were no oil fields on the piece that the church acquired. City officials said it would likely take another year before the entitlement process can be completed. Van Nuys Building Sold Jamison Properties has acquired Tri-Center Plaza, a 144,000-square-foot office building in Van Nuys, for an estimated $21 million. Jamison, an investment group headed by Dr. David Lee, has been aggressively buying properties in the L.A. area and now owns more than 13 million square feet of property. The building, which is nearly fully occupied, was sold by Lowe Enterprises. Jamison represented itself in the deal. Lowe was represented by Nancy Stark, Mark Perry, Carlene O’Neil and Matt Aheyn, all with CB Richard Ellis. Sublease Deal Telair International, an aerospace cargo handling solutions provider, has subleased 122,484 square feet of space in Tapo Canyon Business Center in a deal valued at more than $3 million. Telair will be consolidating its operations, now in Oxnard and South Bay into the Simi Valley space, formerly occupied by Sunrise Medical. Bob Kahn, a broker with CB Richard Ellis, represented Sunrise Medical in the deal. Telair was represented by John Repstad and Brett Dedeaux at Binswanger/Realty Advisory Group. Healthcare Lease Apria Healthcare has leased 20,300-square-feet of industrial space in Van Nuys in a deal valued at $1.1 million. Apria, an Orange County-based provider of home-based healthcare services, will be opening a new branch to serve the San Fernando Valley at the facility. The building is located at 16200 Stagg St. Larry Twomey and Todd Snyder, brokers with Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura Inc., represented the landlord in the deal, Dean Daily Family Trust. Patrick Wifler of Mohr Partners Inc. represented the tenant. Sherman Oaks Lease An infomercial firm has leased 9,600 square feet at 15250 Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks for the company’s creative and production staff. Alchemyy Worldwide also leased another space in the building, 2,541 square feet for its customer service operation. The three-year lease on the full floor is valued at $700,000. The customer service space was leased for about one-and a-half years for $90,000. Josh Gershon and Stan Gershon at Beitler Commercial Realty Services represented Alchemy. Trevor Belden, a broker with Lee & Associates, represented the landlord, Arden Realty Inc. Senior reporter Shelly Garcia can be reached at (818) 316-3123 or by e-mail at [email protected].
