Recolumn/garcia/26″/cw1st/lk2nd By SHELLY GARCIA Staff Reporter Another corporate headquarters office is about to locate to Warner Center. Unova Inc., a major producer of bar-code systems and machine tools and other manufacturing equipment, will relocate to the Woodland Hills locale sometime next year. Unova, which is buying the property through its pension fund, is expected to close escrow this week on a three-story office building at 21900 Burbank Blvd. The seller is American General Realty Advisors, an insurance investment company based in Houston. The 90,000-square-foot building is currently about 30 percent vacant, and its major tenant, 20th Century Industries, plans to leave late next year, when it will move to an expanded headquarters building on Owensmouth Avenue currently under construction by Tishman International Co. Unova was part of Western Atlas, a group of companies that split off from Litton Industries in 1994. Last year, the company was spun off from that group. The company employs 7,000 in its worldwide operations. About 85 employees are based in its corporate headquarters, currently located in Beverly Hills. Those employees are expected to occupy about one floor of the new facility. The rest will be leased out, according to a spokesman. Bill Inglis and Mark Perry, brokers for CB Richard Ellis, Inc., represented Unova in the deal. Bob Shafer at CB represented the seller. More action in Panorama City As if you needed any more proof that industrial property is hot in the San Fernando Valley Voit Cos. just closed escrow on a 6.7-acre site adjacent to “The Plant” and the company has already signed a deal for a 110,000-square-foot build-to-suit on the Panorama City property. Veratex Inc., manufacturers of luxury bed linens sold as private-label brands, will be relocating to the new facility from Van Nuys, said Todd Lorber, vice president with Grubb & Ellis Co., who represented the tenant. Voit, the Woodland Hills-based developer that bought the property on Saticoy Avenue from Union Pacific Railroad Co., is also developing the 600,000-square-foot industrial portion of The Plant. With early indications that The Plant will be successfully leased one deal for 200,000 square feet has already been completed and two other transactions are believed near completion Voit has aggressively added to its holdings in the area. In addition to the Union Pacific site, Voit is in escrow to acquire an 11-acre parcel across Van Nuys Boulevard from Public Storage Inc. The industrial vacancy rate for the central Valley stood at 3.3 percent for the third quarter of this year, according to figures from Grubb & Ellis. Gerald Scullin, a broker with Delphi Properties, represented Voit in the Veratex lease. The company expects to begin construction in the first quarter of next year and move-in is slated for early 2000. Build-to-suit on tap Medical Analysis Systems Inc., a maker of controls for laboratory diagnostic equipment in Camarillo, has signed a lease for a 181,354-square-foot build-to-suit facility in the Mission Oaks Business Park in Camarillo, according to Jim Linn, senior vice president with Grubb & Ellis. The move will more than double the company’s square footage in Camarillo. About 150 employees from the administration, research and production departments of Medical Analysis Systems along with a subsidiary, Medical Diagnostic Systems Inc., will move into the new facility. The new facility will be located at the southeast corner of Adolfo Road and Camino Carillo in the 100-plus-acre business park. It is expected to be completed by October. The seller, PEGH Investments LLC, based in Oxnard, owns about 50 acres and is offering build-to-suits for sale or lease on the site, according to Bob Flink and Bob Shafer, vice presidents with CB Richard Ellis, which represented the company in this transaction. Bob Crenshaw, Steve Valenziano and Allen Trowbridge at Grubb & Ellis also represented Medical Analysis Systems in the deal. Triliad Development Corp. in Thousand Oaks will develop the new facility with Oltman’s Construction Co. Studio Plaza underway Grading has begun on the 94,000-square-foot Studio Plaza, a shopping center under development by VDA Property Co. in Studio City. The Racquet Center, which had been a fixture on the site, located at Ventura Boulevard and Vineland Avenue, has been demolished, and the company expects to begin construction in the first quarter of next year, said Tom Von Der Ahe, Jr., project manager for VDA’s development. The completion date for the center is slated for Nov. 15. VDA had run into a snag this summer when community groups objected to a request to allow a supermarket from operating 24 hours a day on the site. The request was denied by Los Angeles city zoning officials, but the decision was recently overturned by the Board of Zoning Appeals. VDA has signed leases with Ralphs Grocery Co. and Rite Aid Corp. for the center. The company expects to lease spaces to another six or eight stores, but it has not signed any other deals as yet. During hearings held last May, community groups also objected to a request to allow a drive-through window for the pharmacy. Von Der Ahe said that issue has been resolved, and a Rite-Aid drive-through window will be allowed. But that came as news to Renee Weitzer, chief field deputy and planning deputy to Councilman John Ferraro. She said no hearings had been held to discuss the permitting that would be required for a drive-through. El Camino Stretches Out El Camino Resources International Ltd. signed a 10-year lease expanding its square footage in Woodland Hills to 100,000 square feet. The information technology company has occupied 59,000 square feet of space at 21051 and 21041 Warner Center Lane in Woodland Hills. With the new lease, the company will occupy the two full buildings. Mark Sullivan, senior managing director at Julien J. Studley Inc., represented the tenant in the deal, which is valued at $25 million. The Warner Center Lane campus is owned by CarrAmerica Realty Corp., a real estate investment trust. Hotel conversion planned The 184-room Carriage Inn hotel in Sherman Oaks has been leased to a group of investors who plan to convert the property to a Best Western hotel with a Denny’s restaurant. Carriage Inn Investors also has an option to purchase the facility from Atlas Hotels, a San Diego-based operator of hotels through Southern California. The lease is valued at more than $8.4 million.