THOUSAND OAKS : Environmental Site Ready for Tenants

The cubicles inside the Thousand Oaks Environmental Business Cluster stand ready for occupancy. Phone lines have been installed throughout the building. High-speed data transmission lines soon will follow.

Now all the cluster needs are tenants.

After more than a year of planning, the cluster--an effort to house and nurture young, environmentally oriented businesses--has opened its doors to prospective tenants. Entrepreneurs who have applied for space in the Lombard Street building can now tour the offices.

Precisely which applicants will be invited to move in remains undecided. To qualify, businesses must be within the first two years of operation and provide either a product or service that benefits the environment.

An advisory group has been sifting through about 40 applications, said Karen A. Livesay, the cluster’s acting director. She said she hopes to make the first round of selections by the end of the month.

In addition to office space, applicants who make the cut will have access to fax machines, copiers, an environmental library and a conference room wired for video teleconferences.

The businesses also will be able to work together, pooling ideas.

Although the cluster still stands empty, waiting for its first tenants, it has already received international attention. Warren Snowdon, a member of the Australian Parliament, visited the building Friday, Livesay said. Back home, Snowdon had researched business clusters and environmental firms and wanted to see how the Thousand Oaks project combined both.

He was most impressed, Livesay said, with the proposed teleconferencing room. “In Australia, because they’ve got villages and towns that are very widespread out in the boonies, they’re actually looking at that kind of communications,” she said.