After exploring its redevelopment as a mixed-use site and a residential project, Selleck Development Group has sold the former Northridge Hospital Medical Center Sherman Way campus to The King’s College and Seminary. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The King’s College, which currently operates on the West Campus of Church on the Way, will move its facilities to the new location after renovating it. The hospital is just minutes from the church’s campus. Dr. Greg Campbell, president of The King’s College and Seminary, said the deal was put into play about a year ago. “We got word of this becoming available, and so I arranged a meeting and we negotiated the deal about a year ago,” Campbell said. The school and Selleck have been going through the city entitlement process since then. Selleck acquired the property from Catholic Healthcare West, and closed escrow in July, 2005 in a somewhat controversial deal. “Initially we looked at converting it to a number of different uses including medical related, senior care and a residential condo conversion,” Selleck said. “This was a unique use that would utilize a lot of the existing improvements and from a density issue, would have less of an impact.” After the closure and sale of the hospital was first announced late in 2004, community groups and some medical and union leaders attempted to persuade the owners to keep it open. A group of doctors also were reported to have made a $13 million bid for the Van Nuys facility. In a deal shepherded by some of the board of directors of Valley Presbyterian Hospital where Selleck was also a board member, CHW sold the 117,000-square-foot hospital property and parking structure to the developer and the hospital equipment to Valley Presbyterian. Although Selleck never actually began the process of entitling the property for the uses he originally proposed, it is likely that at least some of those proposals would have met with community opposition. The site, however, was perfectly suited to King’s, which had been looking for a place to relocate its now cramped facility for several years. King’s will renovate four floors of former hospital rooms for dormitories. “The biggest thing is it’s going to give us the ability to have residential dormitory rooms,” said Campbell, who expects to be able to house about 85 students in the new dormitories. “We have a big parking structure, so we have plenty of parking and we’ll have a full service cafeteria with a state-of-the-art library.” The school, which currently has about 700 students including those enrolled in its online curriculum and at other branches in Southern California, Colorado Springs and Chicago, has been housed in a 22,000-square-foot tower it had outgrown on the current campus. The new facility will give the school 140,000 square feet of space. Vacating the current campus will also provide expansion opportunities for The Church on the Way. “The Church on the Way is dramatically expanding as well,” said Campbell. “The West Campus is home to La Iglesia en El Camino. That’s gone through the roof and the church is in desperate need of space.” Campbell said he expects the total refurbishment cost of the new facility to be in the neighborhood of $26 million, with the first phase of improvements in the $8 million to $10 million range. A number of fundraising efforts, including the group’s annual gala at the Universal Hilton Hotel are planned. Campbell said he hopes to be fully relocated to the new campus in the fall of 2008. Agoura Hills Project Revisited In an unrelated move, Selleck Development Group has closed on a 13.5-acre parcel on the south side of Agoura Road between Kanan and Reyes Adobe roads in Agoura Hills. The parcel was part of a 25-acre site on which the developer had initially hoped to build a Home Depot. The project, which was first proposed in 2001, was at the center of a protracted community battle led by several local merchants who opposed the addition of the Home Depot store. Eventually, the proposal was quashed when Agoura Hills residents narrowly passed an ordinance limiting all retail development in the city to structures less than 60,000 square feet. Selleck said his plans now include a mixed use development with restaurants, some small retail shops and some office space. “We’re looking at a lot of different alternatives,” he said. “There’s been a lot of unsolicited interest from office and restaurant users. We’re sorting through that now, and we’ll try to incorporate that into our plan.” Another Housing Blow In the latest sign of the slowdown in the residential housing market, KB, one of the largest homebuilders in the country, lowered its earnings estimates for the fiscal year ending Nov. 30. Calling the housing market “increasingly challenging,” KB said it expects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $8.00 to $8.50. The company said preliminary net orders for the third quarter of 2006, 5,989 units, were down 43 percent from the same quarter a year ago. “The company’s unit net orders continue to be adversely affected by higher cancellation rates, which have persisted in many markets where the company operates,” KB said in a press release. Chatsworth Sale Legacy Partners has acquired a 348-unit apartment community in Chatsworth for $52 million. The deal marks the first acquisition of an existing apartment community in the San Fernando Valley for Foster City, Calif.-based Legacy. The project, Waterstone Apartments, located at 9901 Lurline Ave., includes studio, one- and two-bedroom units in a landscaped setting. Amenities include a tennis court, volleyball court, billiards room and fitness center. The seller was Sares Regis Group. Daina Cullen of RE/MAX Achievers represented Legacy partners in the transaction. Legacy’s equity partner is AIG Global Real Estate. The seller was represented by Karoline Sauls of Hendricks & Partners. Valencia Sale Classic Wire Cut Inc. has acquired a 76,540 square foot industrial building in Valencia for $7.6 million. The company, which provides surgical instruments and implants for the medical device industry, acquired the building from Branam Enterprises. It is located at 28210 Constellation Road. Joel Hutak and David Hoffberg of Delphi business Properties represented Classic Wire Cut. Delphi’s Scott Caswell represented Branam. Westlake Sale A 38,764-square-foot parcel in Agoura Hills was sold for $1.2 million. The property was acquired by Conejo Development Co., which plans to build an 11,600-square foot warehouse on the site. Chris Richards and Bill Napier of NAI Capital represented the seller, Bijan Zaghi. The buyer was represented by Patrick Naylon, a broker with BP Realtor. Westlake Lease The Walking Company has leased a 15,271-square-foot office space in Westlake Village for total consideration of $3.3 million. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. The office building is located in Townsgate Tech Center at 2475 Townsgate Road. Marc Spellman, Mark Leonard and Mike Tingus, all with Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura, represented the landlord. The Walking Company was represented by Gary Wagmeister of Corporate Realty Consultants. Senior reporter Shelly Garcia can be reached at (818) 316-3123 or by e-mail at [email protected].
