Simi Valley film distributor Topaz Distribution is taking advantage of a tight industrial market and expanding its headquarters building to lease out extra space. The company is adding 40,300 square feet to its 200,000-square-foot distribution facility with concrete tilt-up construction – think barn-raising with 60-ton concrete walls. The addition will offer 26- to 28-foot-high warehouse space for stacking pallets and racks vertically, dock-high truck loading, a concrete truck yard, a fast-response sprinkler system for high-density and highly flammable materials as well as about 2,500 feet of office space. Topaz’s co-owners and commercial real estate brokers Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura came up with the plan to lease space the business didn’t need when it bought the Class A building in 2011 for $14 million, said Joe Jusko, a principal with Lee & Associates. The company leases about 100,000 square feet and occupies the other half, Jusko said. One tenant has a seven-year lease and the other a 10-year lease. Vacancy rates for industrial properties in Simi fell to 7.8 percent for the fourth quarter of last year from 10.2 percent from the year-ago period, according to Colliers International. Landlords no longer have to provide incentives, Jusko said, and Topaz’s addition is right in the market’s current sweet spot of 10,000 to 50,000 square feet. “Vacancy rates have come down over the past year, so landlord concessions for free rent, tenant improvements and lower lease rates have turned, where landlords are now able to procure tenants without giving up those things,” he said. Jusko said he has already given several tours and expects to get a 10-year lease for the property. The addition is expected to be done in the third quarter. Bidding Wars Woodland Hills retail malls are attracting more than just shoppers. About 16 developers, most of them in the multifamily business, competitively bid on deadline to buy a hot retail property – a 2.73-acre site occupied by Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse. It has a strategic location across from the Village at Westfield Topanga and two other malls. Canoga Park residential developer California Home Builders bought the property at 6263 Topanga Canyon Blvd. for more than $27 million, according to the company. The seller was El Segundo retail developer Paragon Commercial Group. California Home plans to build about 300 luxury apartments there. There are about 14 newer apartment complexes around the Warner Center office park, according to CBRE, but Laurie Lustig-Bower, executive vice president for L.A.’s CBRE Group Inc. and co-broker on the deal on behalf of both parties, said the parcel’s close proximity to the Warner Center office complex, public transportation, several large companies and shopping malls makes it unique. “That really makes this site a differentiator compared to other sites in Warner Center,” she said. “This was one of the most aggressively pursued sites I’ve listed for sale.” The local apartment market has only a 3.7 vacancy rate and has seen rental asking rates rise 6 percent year over year, according to CBRE. Lustig-Bower pointed to newer nearby apartments leasing up faster and at higher rents than expected as evidence of a tightening market. “The apartment market is very strong and apartments drive a higher land value than condos for that particular site,” she said. Matchmaking If you’re a small business hunting for 5,000 square feet or less of office space, meet Crelow. The Minneapolis company is bringing a matchmaking marketplace to the Valley and L.A. area to connect prospective tenants for those smaller spaces with landlords. “A high majority of all office tenants in the U.S. are in our target market of 5,000 square feet and less,” said Pat Hagen, Crelow’s co-founder with Jim Simpson, its chief executive. The Crelow Deal Board is a website that allows tenants to request bids for space. Landlords with available properties are notified by email when tenants post property bids. Landlords can then submit a bid in return for that matching property; if the offer is attractive, the tenant can ask to see the property. The process can also work between representatives of tenants and landlords, Simpson said. Users need to register but the service is free for the most part. In some direct deals between tenants and landlords, tenants will have to pay a portion if a landlord-originated cash incentive is part of an agreement, Simpson said. About 226 brokerages use the site and accounts are growing exponentially, Simpson said. The site has handled nearly 1 million square feet of bid requests and bids worth $190 million have been submitted in return. Staff Reporter Carol Lawrence can be reached at [email protected] or (818) 316-2123.
