Ex-Northrop Site to Become Business Center for Tech Firms

A former Northrop Grumman manufacturing complex in Newbury Park will be transformed into a business center intended to serve technology and biomedical firms.

Investment Development Services of Los Angeles will redevelop the 100-acre site into a $50-million business campus to be called the Conejo Spectrum.

The site has been vacant since the late 1980s. It was previously used for various aerospace-related projects.

The developers plan to “work within the existing footprints,” said David Mgrublian, a managing partner at IDS.

“One thing about Northrop,” he said, “when they built something, they built it pretty well.”

The Spectrum site houses four buildings totaling 577,000 square feet. They were built during the 1960s and ‘70s and reflect the disparate architectural influences of the times, Mgrublian said.

So, the buildings will be stripped down to their skin and rebuilt to establish a consistent look while the campus setup and much of the mature landscaping will be maintained.

The site will be split in half, with 50 acres for the business campus and 50 acres set aside for sale to entrepreneurs, Mgrublian said.

The office center is expected to attract businesses in the technology, service and biomedical industries.

The property, located at 1515 Conejo Center Drive, was purchased by Conejo Building & Land Associates for an undisclosed amount. Daum Commercial Real Estate Services represented Northrop in the transaction. AHT Architects of Santa Monica and Empyrean Landscape Design of Sierra Madre will provide the project’s design.

Although it was used as an aerospace manufacturing facility, the site has no traces of toxic materials, Mgrublian said.

Developers expect the first phase of the project to be completed by the middle of 1999 and the second in 2000.