Oakwood Buys Thousand Oaks Building for Corporate Housing

Oakwood Corporate Housing has provided temporary furnished apartments for employees of countless companies for more than 30 years.

The Los Angeles-based firm operates more than 20,000 apartment units throughout the United States and parts of Europe and Asia.

But until recently, Oakwood had no plans to set foot in Ventura County.

“Five years ago we wouldn’t have had any interest going north of the San Fernando Valley,” said Oakwood President Jim Klein. “Although Ventura County is a nice area, there just wasn’t enough there to support our type of business. Our business is dependent upon having corporations in the vicinity.”

But as Ventura County’s corporate community has grown, so has its appeal--enough to catch the eyes of Oakwood executives. Oakwood has recently purchased the 154-unit Oakcrest apartment complex on Hodencamp Road in Thousand Oaks from Lincoln/Shinhwa III for $18.4 million.

The building, renamed Oakwood Thousand Oaks, gradually will be converted into a corporate apartment complex, available to employees of local corporations and traveling businesspeople.

“A lot of Realtors say Ventura County is the San Fernando Valley of 30 years ago, With a chance to get in on the ground floor, we jumped at the opportunity,” Klein said.

“You’ve got GM out there, Amgen, WellPoint, Dole, Xircom. You’ve got major companies, established companies, and we’ll draw from those,” he said. “The other thing is, you’ve got employees of companies in Woodland Hills who want to live [in Ventura County].”

The Thousand Oaks apartment complex was 100% occupied at the time of the purchase. Current leases of unfurnished apartments will be honored and can be renewed. But with average apartment turnover at 5% a month, Klein said, the complex will quickly fill up with corporate occupants.

“In a case like this, 154 units, we’ll probably never go completely corporate,” he said. “Maybe we’ll get half the building. We could do that within 10 months.”

Klein said the new acquisition fits the Oakwood criteria for corporate apartments. The units are mostly one- or two-bedroom and will be filled with designer furniture, a telephone, cable television, linens, dishes and other furnishings. There is a clubhouse, Jacuzzi, barbecue area, fitness center and a pool.

The location and age of the building also are ideal, he said.

“What you want, basically, is a building that is well-located, that is not a destination point but has the opportunity for a lot of drive-by [traffic],” Klein said. “You are looking for a building that was built somewhere in the last five years, so it’s new and has all the amenities.”

Janet Leavitt, president and chief executive of the Thousand Oaks-Westlake Village Chamber of Commerce, said Oakwood’s presence will be welcome.

“We do get contacted by people who want corporate housing, whether they be with local companies or out here on short-term assignments,” she said. “A lot of times, if they bought a new home and it’s not ready yet, they will use corporate housing. Of if they are looking to move to the area, they will use corporate housing while they look.”

Leavitt said the chamber usually refers those people to Oakwood apartment sites in Woodland Hills.

“It’ll be nice for us to have them here instead,” she said.