Commercial Projects in Valley Break New Ground
Developers broke ground on a host of new developments in the San Fernando Valley during the second quarter, while also completing some noteworthy renovations.
The largest single speculative office building to be constructed in the Valley during the current construction cycle, the 532,000-square-foot Glendale Plaza at 655 N. Central Ave., signed new tenants during the quarter who will bring the Glendale building’s occupancy to more than 99%, according to the project’s Los Angeles-based developer, PacTen Partners. The 25-story office tower was completed in March 1999.
Meanwhile, Glendale Fashion Center reopened officially in June following a $70-million renovation by Vestar Development Co., which acquired the center in 1997 after it sustained massive structural damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. The center had been opening in phases since the first quarter of this year.
Among the developers who began new construction during the quarter was El Segundo-based Kilroy Realty Corp., a real estate investment trust, which completed one of two 100,000-square-foot office buildings at its Calabasas Park Centre along the Ventura Freeway in Calabasas and began construction on a second 100,000-square-foot office building.
The completed building is 100% leased, according to Hugh Greenup, a Kilroy vice president, who said the project will include an 11,000-square-foot office building that Kilroy will probably begin building in the third quarter. The first of the 100,000-square-foot buildings is fully leased, primarily to disability insurance claims administrator VPA Inc. and home builder Ryland Homes, Greenup said.
While many developers pursue larger, multi-tenant office projects, founder Ivan Cohen of Calabasas-based IIC Financial & Development Inc. sees a demand for smaller, owner-occupied office buildings.
IIC Financial completed four such office buildings totaling 28,000 square feet in a $3.5-million project at 28001, 28005, 28009 and 28015 Smyth Drive in Valencia during the first quarter. During the second quarter, IIC sold one of the buildings, went into escrow on another, got an offer on a third and has potential buyers on the fourth, said Cohen, who has developed a number of commercial projects in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys since the 1980s.
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Cohen, whose office buildings range from about 5,000 to 9,000 square feet, said he got the idea for smaller, owner-occupied buildings some time ago when he noticed that a “bidding war” ensued when a small office building went up for sale in the Santa Clarita Valley.
Cohen, who also has industrial projects underway in Valencia and a self-storage project going up in Castaic, said small office buildings are a good niche for entrepreneurs because most big developers don’t want to bother with them. He said he’s in escrow to buy land adjacent to his existing project on Smyth Drive, where he plans to construct four office buildings ranging from 4,500 to 8,000 square feet.
Office, industrial and shopping center developments in the Valley were part of a continuing stream of Los Angeles County commercial construction that included more than $193 million in new retail building permits, $124 million worth of new industrial building permits, and $79 million of office construction permits for the first five months of this year, according to the Burbank-based Construction Industry Research Board.
Among the noteworthy projects under construction in the Valley are the renovation of the Sherman Oaks Galleria, the new LNR Warner Center office project in Woodland Hills and The Centre at Harmon International Business Campus in Northridge.
The Sherman Oaks Galleria renovation, a project of the Santa Monica-based Douglas Emmett Co., will include 700,000 square feet of office space, plus shopping and movie theaters. Work at the center, at the northwest corner of Ventura and Sepulveda boulevards in Sherman Oaks, is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2001.
LNR Warner Center, at the northeast corner of Canoga Avenue and Burbank Boulevard, is a two-building, $70-million, 356,000-square-foot first phase of what is planned as a 1.2 million-square-foot office complex. This first phase is slated for completion in the fall by Woodland Hills-based Voit Development Cos. on behalf of owner Irvine-based Lennar Partners.
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The Centre at Harmon International Business Campus on Balboa Boulevard just north of Roscoe Boulevard is a three-story, 130,000-square-foot office development of Trammell Crow Co., scheduled for completion in September. The $20-million project is at the site of a former aerospace facility.
The following list includes major commercial projects that either broke ground, were completed, obtained governmental approvals, were announced or otherwise made news during the first quarter in the Valley. In addition to the projects on the list, commercial building in the Valley includes many projects that have previously been reported.
Project: Glendale Plaza
Location: 655 N. Central Ave.
Size: 532,000 square feet
Type of building: Office
Developer: PacTen Partners
Cost: $100 million
Status: Completed in March 1999. Hispanic Broadcasting Corp. signed a 15-year lease for 50,000 square feet that increased building occupancy to 100%
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Project: Empire Center Office Campus
Location: Southeast corner of Buena Vista Street and Empire Avenue, Burbank
Size: Up to 600,000 square feet in five buildings
Type of building: Office
Developer: Zelman Development Co.
Cost: $100 million
Status: Environmental impact report approved by L.A. City Council in second quarter
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Project: Glendale Fashion Center renovations
Location: Glendale and California avenues
Size: 264,000 square feet
Type of building: Shopping center
Developer: Vestar Development Co.
Cost: $70 million
Status: Completed in second quarter
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Project: Calabasas Park Centre Location: Ventura Freeway and Parkway Calabasas
Size: Two buildings of 100,000 square feet each and one building of 11,000 square feet
Type of building: Office
Developer: Kilroy Realty Corp.
Cost: $40 million
Status: First 100,000-square-foot building completed in second quarter. Construction began on second 100,000-square-foot building
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Project: Plaza del Valle
Location: Van Nuys Boulevard between Chase Street and Parthenia Avenue
Size: 197,000 square feet renovation, 21,000 square feet new space
Type of building: Combination retail renovation and new construction
Developer: Agora Realty, Management & Construction
Cost: $30 million
Status: Renovation of movie theaters completed in second quarter. Permits are pending for new construction portion of project
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Project: Vista Business Park expansion
Location: 28000 block, Livingston Avenue, Valencia
Size: 206,000 square feet
Type of building: Industrial
Developer: Investment Development Services Inc.
Cost: $15 million
Status: Construction began in second quarter
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Project: Rye Canyon Business Park South Campus
Location: 28110 Kelly Johnson Parkway; 28210 and 28230 Constellation Road, Valencia
Size: 216,000 square feet in three buildings
Type of building: Industrial
Developer: Legacy Partners
Cost: $12.8 million
Status: Construction began in second quarter
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Project: Ridgeview Properties, Valencia Commerce Center
Location: 29003 N. Ave. Sherman, 28328 W. Witherspoon Parkway, 28350 W. Witherspoon Parkway
Size: Three buildings totaling 136,564 square feet
Type of building: Industrial
Developer: IIC Financial & Development Inc.
Cost: $8.5 million
Status: Construction began in second quarter
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Project: Cascades Business Park
Location: Balboa Boulevard and the Golden State Freeway, Sylmar
Size: Three buildings totaling 366,000 square feet
Type of building: Industrial
Developer: Royal Clark Development/The Hewson Co.
Cost: $8.5 million
Status: Construction began in second quarter
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Project: Grace To You building, Valencia Commerce Center
Location: 28003 Harrison Parkway
Size: 35,000 square feet
Type of building: Industrial
Developer: Grace To You
Cost: $4 million
Status: Construction began in second quarter
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Project: Castaic Self Storage
Location: 32015 The Old Road, Castaic
Size: 80,000 square feet, 650 units
Type of building: Self-storage
Developer: IIC Financial & Development Inc.
Cost: $3.8 million
Status: Construction began in second quarter
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Project: Valencia Commerce Center building
Location: 28101 Witherspoon Parkway
Size: 142,140 square feet
Type of building: Warehouse, office
Developer: Sares-Regis Group
Cost: $3.4 million
Status: Completed in second quarter
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Project: L.A. County Assessor’s Office
Location: 13800 Balboa Blvd., Sylmar
Size: 39,000 square feet
Type of building: Office
Developer: The Hewson Co.
Cost: $3.3 million
Status: Completed in second quarter
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Project: International House of Pancakes headquarters
Location: 450 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale
Size: 75,000 square feet (three floors of an existing nine-story building)
Type of building: Office
Developer: Dorn-Platz & Co.
Cost: $3 million
Status: Construction began in second quarter
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Project: Intertex Commerce Center III
Location: 28920 W. Ave. Williams, Valencia Commerce Center
Size: 40,000 square feet
Type of building: Industrial
Developer: Intertex
Cost: $3 million
Status: Construction began in second quarter
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Project: Celis Industrial Park
Location: 600 block, Celis Avenue, San Fernando
Size: Five buildings totaling 20,000 square feet
Type of building: Industrial
Developer: Bernards Bros. Investment Co., San Fernando
Cost: $2 million
Status: Completed in second quarter
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Project: Aquafine building, Valencia Commerce Center
Location: 29010 Avenue Paine
Size: 100,157 square feet
Type of building: Industrial
Developer: Aquafine
Cost: n/a
Status: Construction began in second quarter
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Project: ELMO Semiconductor building, Valencia Commerce Center
Location: 28545 Livingston Ave.
Size: 40,000 square feet
Type of building: Industrial
Developer: ELMO Semiconductor
Cost: n/a
Status: Construction began in second quarter
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Project: Pacific Metal Stamping building, Valencia Commerce Center
Location: 28415 W. Witherspoon Parkway
Size: 21,000 square feet
Type of building: Industrial
Developer: Allen Glasenapp
Cost: $1.9 million
Status: Completed in second quarter
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Sources: Oltmans Construction Co., CB Richard Ellis, Cushman & Wakefield, Grubb & Ellis, Julien J. Studley Inc., individual developers
