Calabasas will be getting a new retail center next summer that will break the mission-style design mold that most buildings in the area have adhered to. The Summit at Calabasas, a 70,000-square-foot development of northern California’s Dollinger Properties, has emerged from what broker Bob Haas of Cypress Retail Group called “a lengthy approval process” of two years, finally getting the green light in May. “This will be the city’s first privately-built ‘green’ project,” said Haas. “It will equate to a silver LEED certification.” It will also be one of the first locations for Circuit City’s new concept stores that are just being rolled out in the Southland, he said. The City, as the new design is dubbed, will be the anchor tenant. Haas said they have signed a lease for 20,000 square feet. Also inked is Daily Grind, “a coffee shop-bakery concept,” said Haas. The design for the center was conceived by the Westlake Village firm of Behr-Browers Architects, Inc. Sitework has commenced and grading will start around August 1. Shell construction should be complete in July 2009. I asked Haas whether he felt that the opening would coincide with a more robust economic cycle. <!– The Summit at Calabasas –> The Summit at Calabasas He responded that while he’s generally optimistic, there’s still a lot of uncertainty, with the job market, which has remained solid, being the key. “If that holds, I do think certainly by the middle of next year we’ll be moving out of this, moving towards a stronger market,” he said. “This next six months is going to be very interesting.” Landsource Bankruptcy Fallout In an SEC filing, National Technical Systems stated that it has not been able to find a buyer for its 118-acre parcel of land in Santa Clarita. The land has been listed since August 2007. The chairman of the publicly-traded NTS, Dr. Jack Lin, in a prepared statement, referred to “the recent bankruptcy of a large developer/landowner in the general vicinity” (hmmm, could that possibly be Newhall Land and Farming?) as a reason they are pessimistic about a potential sale in the near future. Staying vs. Moving With their lease running out, Atlas Development Corporation thought the time might be ripe to make a move. But it turns out they’re staying in their 15,739-square-foot space in Calabasas. While a team of Staubach representatives led by Tony Acerra, Craig Kish and Dean Hawthorne worked to identify the best options for the software developer, Lincoln Property Company and their CBRE team of Michael Slater, Tom Dwyer and Jennifer Rice from Camarillo, worked to identify ways to retain the tenant. “Retaining the tenant is the name of the game,” said Dwyer who added that Lincoln seems to be one of the more enlightened landlords in the Conejo Valley in that regard. He specifically praised the commitment of Lincoln’s management team to listening to the tenant and coming up with a plan to meet their needs, citing specifically David Binswanger, executive vice president for Lincoln; Ginger Dunbar, director of property management and Teri Safer, onsite property manager. “All three of them played a vital role day in and day out in retaining the tenant,” said Dwyer. Atlas has signed a new 63-month lease, the terms of which have not been released. Nice Turnaround Marcus & Millichap is reporting that the sale of the Foothill Glen Apartments achieved “one of the highest” prices per-unit in Sylmar. The 81-unit, four-building complex sold for $12.8 million; it was purchased just one year ago for $11.1 million. Rick Raymundo, director of Marcus & Millichap’s National Multi-Housing Group in downtown Los Angeles, represented the seller, Foothill Glen Apartments in this transaction and when they first bought the property. Raymundo also facilitated the sale of a 24-unit apartment complex in Valley Village for $3.45 million. He was assisted by Philip Rodgers, senior advisor of Raymundo Investments in representing the seller while M & M; broker Anna Chao represented the buyer. Another Apartment Sale The Royal Garden Apartments, a 20-unit apartment building in Van Nuys, has sold for $1.8 million Benjamin Flinders of Investment Real Estate Associates represented the seller, Vanowen Royal Gardens, LLC, while Warren Berzack, vice president of IREA, represented the buyer, a private individual. Staff Reporter Linda Coburn can be reached at (818) 316-3123 or at [email protected] .
