CONEJO VALLEYWESTLAKE VILLAGEWestlake Village biotech company ImmunoCellular Therapeutics announced that it has applied for continued public quoting on the over-the-counter market to comply with amended Rule 15c2-11 under the Securities and Exchange Act. The rule requires that stock issuers such as ImmunoCellular that trade on the Over-the-Counter Link Alternative Trading System, or OTC, must make information about the company publicly accessible. ImmunoCellular has submitted an application and payment to the OTC in order to comply with the amended rule, which will be applicable this September. By the September deadline, the company intends to submit “internally prepared financial statements” to meet compliance requirements. If the new requirements are not met by ImmunoCellular, shares of its common stock will become ineligible for public quoting.Westlake Village-based MannKind Corp. announced that a Medicare policy change that lifts a restriction on diabetic patients having to choose between two tools to manage the condition. Effective July 18, diabetic patients will be able to use both Afrezza, an inhalable insulin made by MannKind, and Continuous Glucose Monitors, or CGMs. “Prior to this change, Medicare denials were occurring for patients using CGMs and inhaled insulin as an alternative to injected mealtime insulin,” MannKind’s Chief Executive Michael Castagna said in a statement. “MannKind is committed to providing convenience for patients and believes that patients should have the choice to use any of today’s tools to help manage their diabetes.” MannKind requested that Medicare administrative contractors reconsider existing language in coverage determination for glucose monitors to include the use of inhaled insulin. Previously, the coverage determination defined patients as taking insulin either with an insulin pump or multiple daily injections. The updated definition now includes patients who take insulin via inhalation as an alternative.
SAN FERNANDO VALLEYCHATSWORTHA Chatsworth-based distributor of athletic gear has signed a lease at 9419 Mason Ave. Newmark brokers John DeGrinis, Patrick DuRoss and Jeff Abraham represented the undisclosed tenant in the deal. The company will occupy 30,183 square feet on Mason Avenue and, according to Abraham, this space will triple the distributor’s previous workspace. NORTHRIDGECalifornia State University – Northridge has announced that Thor Steingraber has agreed to take on expanded interim roles in university relations and at the CSUN Foundation in addition to his role as executive and artistic director at the Soraya theater on campus. Rob Gunsalus, the previous vice president for university relations and advancement and president of the CSUN Foundation, will take on a new role supporting president Dr. Erika Beck in a variety of strategic initiatives. Steingraber will temporarily fill these roles to provide leadership while a national search is undertaken to permanently fill those job. The position is expected to be filled by January. As executive and artistic director of the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts, Steingraber has booked attractions at the theater since 2014, raising record philanthropic investment and playing a central role in the $17 million gift from the Nazarian family foundation that renamed the performing arts center.SHERMAN OAKSRegal Cinemas, the second-largest movie theater chain in the nation, has taken over the 87,000-square foot space abandoned by embattled theater chain ArcLight at the Sherman Oaks Galleria. In April, ArcLight parent company Decurion Corp. announced that it would permanently close down its 300 Pacific Theatres and ArcLight screens in California, including the one it occupied at the Douglas Emmett-owned Sherman Oaks mall, which was one of the company’s top five-grossing movie theaters in 2019. The company also owned the Pacific Winnetka in Chatsworth. Now Regal has assumed the lease and it intends to spend $10 million in tenant improvements before reopening the Sherman Oaks theater. The new theater will feature 4DX, PLF screens and the three-screen wraparound Screen X, as it does at its Valencia Town Center location in Santa Clarita. JLL represented Douglas Emmett in the Regal lease for an undisclosed price. Other Regal Cinemas locations in the San Fernando Valley include Regal Theatres Granada Hills, Regal Edwards Calabasas, Regal Simi Valley Civic Center and two North Hollywood locations.VAN NUYSThe Calabasas-based Newmark team of John DeGrinis, Patrick DuRoss and Jeff Abraham has closed a 28,000-square-foot warehouse lease at Van Nuys Airport Industrial Center. Team DeGrinis represented the landlord Rexford Industrial Realty. Marc Bretter of Cresa represented the tenant. The industrial space will be used by an undisclosed expanding West Los Angeles company for the storage of baby products. “16333 Raymer Street was built in 2006, has 24-foot warehouse clear height and four-rear dock high doors,” Abraham said. “These modern features make it an extremely unique building in the Central San Fernando Valley. With its location blocks away from the 405 freeway, we knew it would attract users from all over.” Before the lease was signed by the incoming tenant, the site had multiple lease offers, according to Abraham. “This is the ninth transaction we’ve completed with Rexford Industrial since they acquired the business park in December 2020,” Abraham said. “This particular (industrial) submarket has been under 1-percent vacant every quarter since Q1 of 2015.”SANTA CLARITA VALLEYVALENCIAA development site in the master-planned Valencia Commerce Center closed escrow for $9.5 million. The industrial-zoned parcel at 28541 Witherspoon Parkway consists of 5.5 acres. Jim Ebanks and Lauren Hunt of Realty Advisory Group Inc.’s LA North Office represented the seller, Witherspoon & Penn Properties LLC. Mark Repstad, formerly a broker with Realty Advisory Group, represented the buyer of the property, SF-540 Witherspoon LLC. “The L.A. Northwest region market is a mature industrial market with many diverse uses such as manufacturing, entertainment, distribution, biomedical technologies and other high-tech operations. Over the course of many years, the diversity of users has also attracted companies of all sizes,” said Ebanks in a statement. “The property has outstanding access to interstate 5 (freeway) and also features panoramic views across the Santa Clarita Valley.”TRI-CITIESGLENDALEIHOP has launched a new Twitter-based marketing campaign, “We Could All Use a Pancake,” to celebrate the reopening of restaurants around the country and welcome guests back by focusing on the comforting nature of the fluffy breakfast food. The chain, owned by Glendale-based Dine Brands Global Inc., said its Twitter account, @IHOP, will feature daily giveaways of free pancakes through July 2, giving guests a chance to win if they request “Pancake Support” by tweeting stories about quarantine misadventures, work from home fails, funny mishaps or reasons why they just need a pancake. “After a year that can only be described as challenging, we are ready to reconnect with our guests, smile and laugh together over delicious food including pancakes, omelets, burgers and the rest IHOP has to offer,” Kieran Donahue, chief marketing officer of IHOP, said in a statement. “We invite everyone to come together under our blue roof over some feel-good food and warm smiles.” The tongue-in-cheek campaign is meant to highlight the power of a pick-me-up. —Compiled by Michael Aushenker
AROUND THE VALLEYS
