Valley Demand Driving New Commercial Projects

By BOB HOWARD

April 11, 2000 12 AM PT

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

The San Fernando Valley is often cited as a place with little empty land to build on, but steady demand for office and industrial space continued to drive developers to launch new commercial projects on the few remaining undeveloped sites during the first quarter and to convert existing sites to new uses.

Irvine-based Lennar Partners broke ground on the first phase of a 1.2 million-square-foot office complex at the northeast corner of Canoga Avenue and Burbank Boulevard in Warner Center during the quarter.

To be called LNR Warner Center, the project eventually will include eight five-story office buildings, hotel, fitness center, several restaurants and a day-care center, according to Lennar officials. The $70-million first phase, slated for completion this fall, will include two office buildings totaling 356,000 square feet. The project is being developed for Lennar by Woodland Hills-based Voit Development Cos.

Among the many other commercial construction projects that made news in the Valley during the first quarter of 2000 were the proposed $140-million expansion and renovation of Valley Plaza shopping center in North Hollywood by the J.H. Snyder Co., the announcement of plans by M. David Paul Co. for a $130-million project called Media Center Gardens in Burbank and Trammell Crow’s acquisition of a 33-acre former aerospace facility next to Van Nuys Airport for a 689,000-square-foot project called Airport Industrial Business Park.

First-quarter construction in the Valley was part of a continuing boom in California, according to the Burbank-based Construction Industry Research Board, which said $3.8 billion in new projects were started in the state in February, the latest month for which figures are available.

The February total was up 7.1% from January and 22.1% from February 1999, according to the CIRB, which said the state’s total construction volume for the first two months of 2000 was $7.36 billion, $1 billion more than January-February 1999. The CIRB does not break out separate figures for the Valley, but construction industry sources said the Valley is winning its fair share of building in Southern California.

“We’ve actually hit a little bit of a flat spot right now, but we expect another wave of new construction, probably in the fourth quarter,” said Robert Larson, a vice president in the Thousand Oaks office of Whittier-based Oltmans Construction, a contractor working on office and industrial buildings and other commercial projects in and near the San Fernando Valley.

Larson said Oltmans is a good bellwether of construction in the Valley because it is one of the largest commercial contractors. He said the company, which has had 15 to 20 projects underway in the Valley at any given time during the last two years, now has about 10 underway because it has finished a number of jobs. Larson, however, expects the number of projects to rise back to 15 or 20 by the end of the year.

The following list includes major commercial projects that either broke ground, were completed, obtained governmental approvals or were announced 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 been underway for some time.

Project: Renovation of Valley Plaza shopping center

Location: West of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and east of the Hollywood Freeway

Size: 47 acres

Type of building: retail

Developer: J. H. Snyder Co.

Cost: $140 million

Status: The Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency selected and decided to spend six months negotiating with Snyder to develop the project.

Project: Media Center Gardens

Location: 3300 W. Olive St., Burbank

Size: 350,000 square feet in first phase, 585,000 total

Type of building: office

Developer: M. David Paul

Cost: About $130 million

Status: Developer acquired site for $20 million and obtained Burbank City Council approval in first quarter.

Project: Glendale Plaza

Location: 655 N. Central Ave., Glendale

Size: 530,000 square feet

Type of building: office

Developer: PacTen Partners

Cost: $100 million

Status: Completed in March 1999. New leases signed during the quarter have increased occupancy to about 400,000 square feet, or about 75%, and real estate sources say pending leases will soon bring the occupancy to about 80%.

Project: LNR Warner Center

Location: Canoga Avenue and Burbank Boulevard

Size: 356,000-square-foot first phase, 1.2 million square feet total

Type of building: office

Developer: Lennar Partners

Cost: $70 million for the first phase

Status: Construction began in first quarter.

Project: Corporate Pointe at West Hills

Location: 8533 Fallbrook Ave., West Hills (former Coast Savings headquarters)

Size: 377,000 square feet

Type of building: office

Developer: Trammell Crow

Cost: $55 million

Status: Two buildings totaling 70,000 square feet completed in February. Two additional buildings totaling 245,000 square feet completed March 31. One additional building of 50,000 square feet under construction.

Project: Airport Industrial Business Park

Location: 16555 Saticoy St., Van Nuys

Size: 689,000 square feet (200,000 square feet existing, 489,000 to be developed

Type of building: industrial/manufacturing

Developer: Trammell Crow

Cost: $45 million

Status: Developer acquired property March 17. Existing buildings to be renovated immediately, with construction start on five new buildings scheduled to begin in August.

Project: Plaza del Valle

Location: Van Nuys Boulevard between Chase and Parthenia streets

Size: 197,000-square-foot renovation, 21,000 square feet of new space

Type of building: retail renovation

Developer: Agora Realty, Management & Construction

Cost: $30 million

Status: Permits were obtained and construction began on renovated portion during the first quarter. Permits are pending for new construction.

Project: L.A. County Department of Public Social Services

Location: San Fernando Road near Pacific Avenue, Glendale

Size: 80,000 square feet

Type of building: office

Developer: Chase Glendale Services LLC

Cost: $12.6 million

Status: Primary construction of outer shell completed in first quarter, with final completion scheduled for September.

Project: Airport Plaza

Location: 2940 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank

Size: 160,000 square feet

Type of building: office

Developer: Trammell Crow

Cost: $30 million

Status: Demolition of existing structures completed, construction begun on new building.

Project: The Centre

Location: 8400 Balboa Blvd. in Harman International Business Campus, Northridge

Size: 130,000 square feet

Type of building: office

Developer: Trammell Crow

Cost: $20 million

Status: Construction began in first quarter.

Project: Media Studios North, Phase III

Location: Burbank

Size: 100,000 square feet

Type of building: office

Developer: M. David Paul

Cost: About $20 million

Status: Construction began in first quarter.

Project: Vista Business Park expansion

Location: 28000 block of Livingston Avenue, Valencia

Size: 206,000 square feet

Type of building: industrial

Developer: Investment Development Services Inc.

Cost: $15 million

Status: Announced in the first quarter.

Project: Rye Canyon Business Park

Location: Newhall Ranch Road and CopperHill Road

Size: 216,000 square feet in three buildings

Type of building: industrial

Developer: Legacy Partners

Cost: $12.8 million

Status: Legacy broke ground in the first quarter on the first 216,000 square feet of new construction, part of what will ultimately be 2.5 million square feet of new space. The company previously renovated 430,000 square feet of existing space.

Project: Veratex building

Location: 14000 Arminta St., Panorama City

Size: 110,000 square feet

Type of building: 99,000 square feet warehouse, 11,000 square feet office

Developer: Selleck Properties and Voit Development Co.

Cost: $3.8 million

Status: Completed and occupied in first quarter.

Project: Jerry Leigh headquarters building

Location: 7895 Nelson Road, Panorama City

Size: 190,000 square feet

Type of building: industrial

Developer: Selleck Properties and Voit Development Co.