WESTLAKE VILLAGE : Dole Food Co. Plans Corporate Complex

Dole Food Co. plans to build a 525,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Westlake Village by the end of 1995, a project hailed by city officials as a welcome addition to the city’s growing business center.

Construction of the $88-million business complex at Lindero Canyon Road west of Valley Oaks Memorial Park is expected to begin later this summer, with the first three buildings scheduled for completion by December, 1995, said Westlake Village Planning Director Bob Theobald.

The City Council approved development agreements for the project earlier this month, with no public comment on the plan, Theobald said.

“It’s really a first-rate plan,” Theobald said. “I think it will improve the entire quality of the business park on that side of the freeway.”

More than half of the project will be outdoor garden areas, he said.

Dole moved to Westlake Village from Florida in 1991, and has been leasing office space for about 1,000 employees, who will occupy the new corporate headquarters, said Tom Pernice, vice president of public affairs for the company.

“We came for the quality of life, among other things,” Pernice said. “It’s a great, well-thought-out community with good services and an excellent work force to draw from.”

The construction project is the largest approved in Westlake Village in the last five years, Theobald said.

The City Council approved the 130-acre Westlake North business center on the other side of Lindero Canyon Road in 1989, but construction of that project has been on hold.