RE Column

Recolumn/garcia/23″/Cw1st/mike2nd By SHELLY GARCIA Staff Reporter The Sperry Van Ness-Encino office is shutting down. Raffi Krikorian, managing partner of the office, issued a statement saying he will oversee the completion of the brokerage’s pending transactions and other remaining business. The Encino office in the past few months had dwindled from 34 people to 12, as brokers jumped to competing firms. The closure is the latest chapter in a dispute between the Encino office and Sperry Van Ness Investment Brokerage Services Inc. that goes back two years. In March, the partnership that owns the Encino office filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Sperry Van Ness, seeking more than $1.5 million in damages. According to the complaint, Sperry Van Ness, which had a 25.5 percent ownership interest in the Encino firm, collected 8 percent of its gross revenues. Krikorian objected to the fee as excessive and claimed Sperry Van Ness breached a management agreement between the parties by allegedly providing a faulty interoffice computer network and not adequately training employees, among other things, according to the suit. The Encino partnership then agreed to purchase Sperry Van Ness’ interest and lined up Charles Dunn Co. to buy a majority interest in the office. But the suit alleges Sperry Van Ness “sabotaged” those negotiations, and Dunn withdrew from the buyer group. Trillium deals Two new tenants are set to move into the Trillium in Warner Center, bringing the occupancy rate in the high-rise to 91 percent. Superior Consultant is consolidating its Burbank and Simi Valley offices into 18,243 square feet of space on the 14th floor of the building. OAO Healthcare Services has signed a deal for 10,245 square feet. Jim Lindvall, a broker with Grubb & Ellis Co. who represented the Trillium in both deals, also represented Superior. He was joined by Tom Festa, also with Grubb & Ellis, on the OAO lease. Nancy Stark, a broker with CB Richard Ellis Inc., represented OAO. A bigger act ACT Networks Inc. has leased a 60,000-square-foot headquarters building in Calabasas. ACT, a developer of wide-area network access products, is consolidating two Southern California offices in the move to Malibu Canyon Business Park at 26707 Agoura Rd. The company will house more than 200 workers at the facility. Richard Abbitt of Lee & Associates represented ACT in the deal, valued at $10 million over a seven-year period. Jeff Johnston with the Johnston Group was the in-house representative for the business park owners. Glendale sale Glendale Financial Square I, a six-story office building on West Broadway, has been sold to an affiliate of Layton-Belling Associates and AEW Capital Management for $16.1 million. The 120,828-square-foot building across from the Glendale Galleria is 80 percent occupied. The new owners are planning a major renovation of the property. Cushman & Wakefield’s David McKenney, Richard Plummer and Nancy Kikuchi represented the seller in the deal. Robert Fitzgerald, Brad Feld and Marc Wolfe, also at Cushman & Wakefield, have the exclusive leasing assignment. Levitz gets a new home Levitz Furniture, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based chain, has subleased 20,680 square feet of retail space in the Valencia Marketplace. Ray Bayat and Bert Abel of Grubb & Ellis represented Levitz in the transaction, valued at $2.9 million for the 10-year sublease. Scott Horsley at Trammell Crow represented the sublessor, PetsMart Inc. Grocery move Asian Ranch Market has leased 13,208 square feet of retail space in a freestanding building at 7160 Van Nuys Blvd. in Van Nuys. The company is relocating from another Van Nuys location that is undergoing renovation. The multi-year lease is valued in excess of $1.2 million. The space was formerly occupied by Blockbuster Music. Christopher Crocker of Capital Commercial/NAI represented Bockbuster Entertainment. Barbara McAllister of CB Richard Ellis Inc. represented the tenant. Software start-up Liquid Entertainment, a new company that develops computer gaming software, has inked a deal for 5,440 square feet of office space at the St. Charles Professional Center in Thousand Oaks. The company will employ a staff of 20 at the facility at 558 St. Charles Drive. Ed Ball and Corbett Richmond of Capital Commercial/NAI represented the tenant and landlord in the transaction. News and notes Accelerated Networks Inc. leased 15,000 square feet of industrial space in the Simi Valley Business Park. Tony Principe and Jeff Steinberg of Westcord Commercial Real Estate Services represented the landlord, Tyler Development Co. Carlo Brignardello at Cresa Partners represented the tenant. Reptron Electronics Inc., an electronic components distribution firm, has leased 2,878 square feet of office space at 31248 W. Oak Crest Drive from K-Swiss Inc. Reptron, which is relocating from Agoura Hills, will house its area sales office in the facility. Ed Ball with Capital Commercial/NAI represented Reptron. Keith Green and Joe Jusko of the Seeley Co. represented K-Swiss in the deal. Three industrial buildings totaling 179,000 square feet have been completed in the first phase of the Northfield Business Park in Oxnard. The buildings, at Oxnard’s Pacific Commerce Center near Fifth Street and Rice Avenue, range from 39,000 to 91,000 square feet. The developers, Centex Corp. and Zephyr Development, plan to begin work on the second phase next year. Fred J. Ferro at Capital Commercial/NAI is the marketing representative for the complex. Staff Reporter Elizabeth Hayes contributed to this column.