San Fernando Valley Canoga Park California Pizza Kitchen Inc. opened a 5,300-square-foot prototype restaurant in the Westfield Topanga mall. The outlet seats 150 and also features a 1,000-square-foot bar with full menu and seating for 40. The rustic décor is a change from the chain’s typical black-and-tan booths. A pizza bar is also designed to offer patrons the opportunity to interact with the pizza chefs. The L.A.-based chain operates more than 235 locations, including nearly a dozen in the greater Valley. Sylmar Tutor Perini Corp. has been awarded a $133 million contract by Amtrak to construct a tunnel at the Hudson Yards project in New York. The firm will begin construction on the tunnel next month beneath the 26-acre mixed-use project, slated for 6 million square feet of commercial space, 5,000 residences, a public school and luxury hotel. The 800-foot-long tunnel is designed to preserve an underground right-of-way for possible expansion of rail service under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Penn Station. Tutor already has a contract to construct the 1.7 million-square-foot South Tower of the Hudson Yards development, which has a total price tag of $4 billion. Glendale DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. will develop an indoor theme park on the Yangtze River Delta in China. The park is part of the Oriental DreamWorks joint venture the Glendale animation studio entered into with three Chinese media companies last year. The park will showcase characters created by the studio, including those from the “Kung Fu Panda.” The joint venture also will collaborate on a film studio, the Dream Center entertainment and cultural complex in Shanghai, and mobile, online, interactive games and consumer products. DreamWorks Animation owns 45 percent of the company. Conejo Valley Camarillo Biofuels startup Cool Planet Energy Systems Inc. is moving its headquarters to the Denver suburb of Greenwood Village. The Camarillo company had been deliberating the move since April after the Colorado Economic Development Commission offered $3.1 million in job-growth tax rebates. It will retain a research and development office in Camarillo. The biofuel company raised almost $30 million in June to build its first production facility, which it expects will employ 390 workers in Colorado when operational. Cool Planet converts non-food biomass, such as wood chips, algae and corn cobs, into gasoline. It was founded by entrepreneur Mike Cheiky in 2008 and has the backing of high-profile investors, including General Electric Co., Google Ventures and BP plc. Thousand Oaks The City Council voted 3-2 to reject an 88,000-square-foot swap meet proposed for a Newbury Park office park. Longtime Conejo Valley developer Manny Asadurian had sought a special use permit for the Thousand Oaks Marketplace at 2300 Corporate Center Drive. Asadurian said he had signed a seven-year lease for the space and planned on spending about $300,000 to create booths for about 150 tenants. The marketplace would have been the first swap meet in the Conejo Valley and had been recommended for approval by the planning commission. There is no appeal of the decision. Amgen Inc. is paying Servier, a Suresnes, France pharmaceutical research company, $50 million up front for the right to sell invabradine, an oral heart medication, in the U.S. market. The drug helps patients with elevated heart rates. In exchange, Servier obtained European sales rights for omecamtiv mecarbil, a drug being tested by Amgen to treat insufficient blood flow out of the heart. Santa Clarita Valley Valencia A two-story, 32,500-square-foot Mini Cooper dealership opened at 24135 Creekside Road. Mini of Valencia is owned by AutoNation Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The company is the largest auto retail outfit in the country with more than 250 dealerships, including six in the greater Valley region. The Santa Clarita auto row along Creekside Road is already home to more than 20 different domestic and foreign vehicle brands. Around the Valleys To be considered for publication, submissions should be emailed to: [email protected]. Please put ATV in the subject line. For more information, call (818) 316-3123.
Around the Valleys
