Flexible Space Held Key to Leasing
Michael S. Baskauskas allows that there may or may not be a surplus of research-and-development and high-tech space in the greater Los Angeles area, but believes there certainly is a shortage of flexible space.
Baskauskas is chief operating officer of Jaric Developers--Contractors in West Los Angeles, and he points to Jaric’s Calabasas Tech Center near Agoura and Las Virgenes roads as an example of a successful R&D; park in a crowded market.
The 260,000-square-foot, seven-building project is still under construction, but it is more than 65% pre-leased, he said.
The largest tenant, First Interstate Bank’s Trust Operations Center, will move into a 70,000-square-foot building in September from its current Woodland Hills location. Several other tenants are also expected to occupy their space in September and October.
Flexible Toward Tenants
“Our smallest tenant, Technology Research International, has only 6,500 square feet of space,” said Baskauskas, who formerly was an industrial leasing specialist with Coldwell Banker. “We are flexible enough to accommodate the small, medium and large space user--the secret of our leasing success.”
The other four tenants are Protocol Computers with 39,500 square feet, Saki Magnetics with 18,600 square feet, Interactive Machines Inc. with 20,850 square feet and Creative Computer Applications with 16,700 square feet.
Five of the seven buildings have mezzanine levels that can be expanded, providing additional office space, Baskauskas said on a walk-through of the project. He pointed to the mezzanine of a building, indicating that it will be extended to increase the office space for the tenant.
Facing the Road
“We customize our buildings, instead of throwing up a 100,000-square-foot box and telling the prospective tenant to take it or leave it, as so many other developers seem to be doing,” he said.
He added that the buildings face Agoura Road, in contrast to a nearby project that turns its back to the road in favor of a central courtyard.
“We think tenants want the kind of identification that they obtain from frontage on the street, which is scheduled for signalization where it intersects with Las Virgenes Road,” Baskauskas said.
The architect of the project is Malcomb & Ware, Irvine, and the leasing agent is Coldwell Banker’s San Fernando Valley office.
Three other Jaric projects in Los Angeles County include the Cerritos Corporate Center, with 290,000 square feet of office and industrial space: the Painter Business Park, with 122,000 square feet of office and industrial space in Santa Fe Springs, and Pacific Corporate Center, with 101,000 square feet, also in Santa Fe Springs.
