An evening spent with the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association highlighted how much real estate activity is planned or underway for that neighborhood. I was able to confirm what was only spoken of as a rumor at the meeting: the Sunkist headquarters building on Riverside Drive is for sale. Company executives were unavailable by deadline for details. Some in SOHA fear that Westfield may try to get hold of the property which is just across Hazeltine from the east end of their Fashion Square Mall. Speaking of which, the environmental impact report for the Fashion Square expansion is anticipated to be coming out any day now, according to SOHA land use committee chairman, Ken Gerston. Westfield is proposing to add 280,000 square feet onsite by converting the existing parking structure on Hazeltine to retail space; expanding the existing parking structure next to Macy’s on the west end; and adding another parking structure where the surface parking is behind the center. Heading east, the Sportsman’s Lodge has been under new ownership for about a year now. The new landlord, Richard Weintraub of Weintraub Financial Services has big, but neighborly, plans for the property. In addition to renovating the hotel itself, he said he plans to create an “exclusive shopping and destination experience We’re really trying to create something by the neighborhood and for the neighborhood.” The hotel renovation, being designed by Gensler Architects, is meant to keep the Lodge’s “’60s vibe” while maintaining “a purist point of view,” said Weintraub. They are starting with an update of the pool area adding cabanas with flatscreen televisions, and tropical landscaping. A new retail component is still in the planning stages. “We have a lot of interest from high-end, neighborhood-oriented tenants and we’re just trying to think, what is the perfect mix,” said Weintraub. “We are going with a less-is-more approach. We’re not looking to maximize the site by height or FAR (floor-area ratio).” He’s hoping to utilize the almost 10-acre site more fully, though, and do something that’s difficult on Ventura Boulevard. “The problem is that the (property) ownership structure is broken up into little bitty pieces from Sepulveda going pretty much all the way to Universal City,” Weintraub said, “So it’s very hard to get economies of scale on a top restaurant or shop that will not go between a dry cleaner and a shoe repair company.” He calls up the previous incarnation of Sherman Oaks Fashion Square as one of his inspirations: “It had nice shops, sun, open air, and gave people optimism and enthusiasm for going someplace.” When questioned whether he was trying to emulate developer Rick Caruso’s outdoor retail centers, Weintraub said that while he thinks Caruso is “brilliant,” that the difference is that “(Caruso) is trying to attract people from a 30-mile radius whereas I’m trying to attract from within the neighborhood.” Design-wise, Weintraub is taking a decidedly Valley approach. “What we’re going for is more of a gesture to Neutra and Shindler,” said Weintraub, referring to two icons of Valley architecture. Other irons in the SOHA fire are keeping tabs on the former Barone’s restaurant site between Moorpark and Ventura Boulevard. John Laing Homes has planned a large-scale multi-family residential development but according to spokesperson Lupe Prado Sanchez, that’s on hold for the time being. They are completing demolition and cleanup of the site to deter graffiti and squatters. Oh, and Westside developer M. David Paul has proposed a 65,000-square-foot retail project at Sepulveda & Camarillo. Word is that a draft EIR should be available for comment by Labor Day. Calling the Valley Home It is Trilogy Studios third year in business and they’re still unpacking boxes at their new digs in the TriCenter Plaza in Sherman Oaks. Company president Michael Pole swears the triptych of events are completely coincidental, but he appreciates the serendipity. “Timing is everything,” he said. How else to explain the fact that just as the company was looking for more space to alleviate overcrowding in its Santa Monica office, up popped Lee & Associates principals Scott Romick and Ron Feder with a space that had been planned for another creative company that backed out at the last moment. The fact that the space is in Sherman Oaks, where Pole resides, is also just a coincidence, he swears. “We spent an exhaustive amount of time talking with our folks,” Pole said, ” and it was decided the reverse commute from the Westside, and the area’s proximity to Simi Valley, Valencia, and other parts of the Valley, would allow us to recruit the best and brightest from all parts of Los Angeles.” Although the company specializes in creating online virtual worlds and massively-multiplayer online games, the their real-world space is of ultimate importance to Trilogy. The location and the environment are key components in the company’s recruiting strategy. They hope to add 15 new staff to their current roster of 30 by the end of the summer. “There’s no shortage of talent out there,” Pole said, “It’s just having a place to actually recruit them to.” The five-year lease they signed for their 8,000 square feet of space at 5990 Sepulveda Blvd. is valued at $1.25 million. From the Front Page As mentioned in the eSolar story starting on page one, in April that Pasadena-based company signed a five-year lease for 51,112 square feet of space in the Fairway Business Park. Lee & Associates’ Paul Bellgraph said it is “one of the largest industrial lease transactions to occur in Palmdale in the past year.” Bellgraph, Ron Feder and Peter Steigleder represented landlord, Coast United Advertising Co. Tristan Greenleaf of Colliers International, represented eSolar in the transaction. Staff reporter Linda Coburn can be reached at (818) 316-3123 or via email at [email protected] .
