Recolumn

SHELLY GARCIA Staff Reporter Westbrook Partners LLC, a New York-based investment fund, has purchased four sizable San Fernando Valley-area properties, as well as one in Gardena, as part of its $965 million acquisition of Allstate Corp.’s nationwide real estate portfolio. Included in the portfolio are Allstate Plaza, a 412,106-square-foot project in Glendale; Burbank Airport Business Park, a 358,392-square-foot complex in North Hollywood; the 317,407-square-foot Chatsworth Business Park; a 173,000-square-foot facility in the Valencia Industrial Center; and the 117,326-square-foot Gardena Business Park. Those represent just a small portion of 51 Allstate portfolio properties that have been purchased by Westbrook. Allstate retains a $150 million interest in the portfolio, which prior to the divestiture contained more than 10 million square feet of property. Officials at Westbrook did not return phone calls. Ranch hands Centex Development Co. has signed its first tenant for the 65-acre Camarillo Ranch Business Park currently under construction. Diamondback, a maker of bicycles and fitness-related equipment, has signed a lease for a 132,000-square-foot build-to-suit in the park, which is located north of the Ventura (101) Freeway, east of Flynn Road. Diamondback is currently located in a 98,000-square-foot facility in Camarillo. It expects to move into its new building in March, said Tim Foutz, a broker with Capital Commercial/NAI, who represented Diamondback in the deal. Centex acquired the 65-acre park site in June for an undisclosed sum. The site is adjacent to the historic home of the Camarillo family, which founded the city. The home will be donated to the city. Centex expects to develop a total of 1 million square feet of light industrial space on the property in two phases. The developer, which is also selling land parcels, has no plans to undertake speculative building there, said Capital Commercial’s Fred Ferro, who along with Alex Woronovich represented Centex in the Diamondback deal. Newcomers to Lincoln Oaks Two new tenants are coming to the Lincoln Oaks Corporate Center in Thousand Oaks. RealSelect Inc., an Internet service company that works with the National Association of Realtors to list for-sale properties on its Web site (www.realtor.com), signed a lease for 34,000 square feet in the former Exxon building at the center. With the move from the company’s current headquarters in Westlake Village, RealSelect will increase its office space fourfold. Also at the center, Wyle Electronics Inc. signed a five-year lease for 10,000 square feet. Tom Festa of Grubb & Ellis Co. represented the landlord; Jim Lindvall of Grubb & Ellis represented RealSelect, and Leland Bruce of the Staubach Co. in Irvine represented Wyle. New manager for Trillium Commonwealth Partners, an owner of the Trillium in Warner Center, has assumed property management responsibilities for that office project and has hired Investment Development Services to share in those duties. The Trillium’s property management had previously been handled by Realty Bancorp. “We felt like we wanted to take a fresh look at the property,” said Alison Garcia, senior vice president for L.A.-based Commonwealth. Earlier this year, Commonwealth assumed asset management responsibilities for the building. Lowe gets to work Lowe Enterprises Commercial Group has begun work on a rehab of the former Sears Logistics Services Inc. facility at 9120 Mason Ave. in Chatsworth. Lowe acquired the 315,000-square-foot industrial facility and underlying 21-acre site from the Sears group in September, according to Matt Hargrove, a broker with Cushman & Wakefield Inc., who with Lee Black and Chuck Hunt represented Sears in the deal. The site includes about 5.5 acres of developable land. Lowe’s current plans call for building another 130,000 square feet of structures on the property. News and notes The Stantron division of Zero Corp. has agreed to have an $11 million built-to-suit headquarters facility developed for it at the Valencia Gateway Commerce Center. The 170,000-square-foot facility will be developed by Newhall Land and Farming Co. on an 8.3-acre parcel west of Interstate 5, at the intersection of Highway 126. The Stantron division, which manufactures cabinets and other equipment to transport and enclose sensitive electronic equipment, is currently based in Pacoima. The 200 or so employees who work there will be relocated to the new building when it is completed next summer. David Hoffberg and Jerry Scullin, brokers with Delphi Business Properties, represented Stantron. CB Richard Ellis Inc. represented Newhall Land and Farming. Pacific West Management acquired the 13.65-acre property with a 300,000-square-foot industrial building at 11428 Sherman Way in North Hollywood for $13.3 million. The seller was Federated Industries Inc. of Chicago. The building is currently leased to Southern Wine & Spirits, a Miami-based wine and liquor distributor, as a warehouse and distribution center. Pacific West acquired the property as an investment. David Young and Bill Napier of Capital Commercial/NAI represented Pacific West. Steve Skok at Cohen Financial, a consulting firm in Chicago, represented Federated. LTM Lighting Inc., a motion picture lighting company in Sun Valley, has acquired a 14,100-square-foot industrial building at 7755 Haskell Ave. in Van Nuys. The deal is valued at $875,000. The seller was Standard Real Estate Investors LLC. Tim Foutz, a broker with Capital Commercial/NAI, represented both parties.