Time Is Money in Agoura Hills Deal for Litton Campus

Time Is Money in Agoura Hills Deal for Litton Campus Real Estate by Shelly Garcia They say location is everything, but these days, when it comes to real estate, even location can’t trump timing. Just ask Litton Systems Inc. A year ago, the company put its Litton Information Systems campus in Agoura Hills up for sale and 16 bidders came knocking. For those of you who need to wade back through the water under that bridge, the San Fernando Valley real estate market was red hot in January 2001, doubly so for anything in Woodland Hills or west. “If there was a big name in the Northwest Los Angeles area, they were on the track of this building,” said Bob Scullin, a broker with NAI Capital Commercial, who, along with NAI’s Cathy Scullin, represented Litton. With all those bidders lining up for the 165,000-square-foot facility, the asking price, $24 million, became a little theoretical, and Litton found itself in the happy position of sifting through offers that exceeded the list price. “We all know about that supply and demand rule,” said Scullin, a little wistfully. Litton didn’t stay in the cat bird seat for long. By the time the company narrowed down the offers and selected a bidder, the market had begun to turn sour, and the potential buyer dropped out, sending Litton back to the table for a new prospect. This time, however, only five bidders showed up and, although Scullin won’t disclose the purchase price, he does concede it was less than the listing figure. The new owners, Nearon Enterprises, a private investment company based in Northern California, plans to renovate the interior space, which had been constructed for the R & D;, engineering and office needs of Litton, now a Northrop Grumman division. (Litton vacated the property last year as part of a consolidation of some of the company’s operating groups in Northridge.) Scullin, who also represented the buyer and is now marketing the property on behalf of Nearon, said the company hopes to sell or lease the campus in its entirety. “The next best thing would be a single tenant for each building,” he said. The campus, on 17.5 acres at 29851 Agoura Road, consists of one 95,000-square-foot building and one 70,000-square foot facility. An additional 4.3 acres is available for development. NAI is marketing the property for sale at $25 million or for lease at $2.25 per square foot, full-service gross. But I’m guessing that too will depend on timing. Sun Valley Sale Shadow Mountain Industrial Park in Sun Valley has been sold to real estate investment advisor RREEF. The 267,464-square-foot complex houses 15 tenants including a Honeywell division that repairs black box equipment, G & K; Services, a uniform supplier, and Rico International, a division of musical instrument maker Boosey & Hawkes. It is 92-percent leased. The asking price for the property, located on Chivers Avenue and Pendelton Street, was $21.5 million. The purchase price was not disclosed. Shadow Mountain includes seven buildings. RREEF also owns the Golden State Business Park and the Burbank Airport Business Park. The seller, TA Associates Realty, acquired Shadow Mountain from the DeCinces family, which built the park in 1987. Warner Center Sale The more things change, the more they stay the same. It looks like Bob Voit, the developer who built Warner Center, is coming back to his roots. Voit Cos. is one of two developers who are likely to split Warner Center Properties in a deal currently underway. Reports surfaced in the past two weeks that Voit is negotiating to acquire more than 15 low-rise buildings in the office hub. Douglas Emmett Realty Advisors is in line to acquire the high-rise towers included in the 2.3 million-square-foot office complex. The two companies emerged from a field of about 20 who initially bid for the project. Though there are many steps still to go before the deal is sealed, several published reports say that the two companies are expected to buy the properties, owned jointly by Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. and Harvard University’s endowment fund since 1995. CB Staff Changes Speaking of Warner Center, the former director of leasing for the business center has been named managing director of the San Fernando Valley office of CB Richard Ellis, the brokerage that represents Warner Center Properties. Don Hudson takes a position that had been vacant for some time. He will be responsible for recruitment and new business development. Bill Inglis, a broker with CB, takes over Hudson’s responsibilities at Warner Center. Industrial Lease Rehrig Pacific Co. has leased an industrial building in North Hollywood after winning a contract to replace all the City of Los Angeles trashcans. The company will be occupying a 50,000-square-foot facility at 11949 Sherman Road in a five-year lease valued at $2.5 million. Barbara Emmons with CB Richard Ellis represented the tenant. The landlord, Lainer Investments, represented itself. Senior reporter Shelly Garcia can be reached at (818) 676-1750, ext. 14 or by e-mail at [email protected].