'ZOOM' CLASS WANTS ITS WAY.

Byline: GREGORY J. WILCOX Real Deals

They are called ``Zoomers'' around the offices of Del Webb Corp., the retirement community builder that has lured hundreds of San Fernando Valley residents to places like Palm Desert, Phoenix, Tucson and Las Vegas.

The term refers to Baby Boomers who view retirement as a chance to really live life in the fast lane unencumbered by time clocks or mandatory appearances at the office.

Shuffleboard is not on their ``to do'' list.

What's on their minds is important to companies like Del Webb, though, because about 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964 are making an inexorable march to retirement.

It's also a rich opportunity for companies that cater to this market.

The boomer generation turns 55 this year and, not surprisingly, these folks won't consider themselves old for another 20 years, according to the company's fourth national survey of this age group, which will be released Monday.

And while 17 years separate the leading and trailing edge of the population bubble there is agreement on some lifestyle points, which will impact how the real estate industry meets their needs.

Here are some of the findings of the Webb survey.

--Zoomers want simplicity to be a key feature of their retirement and they will be willing to downsize to get it.

They will be frugal, too, with 36 percent believing they can maintain a comfortable lifestyle on between $500 to $1,000 of disposable income a month. Twenty seven percent said they would need between $1,000 and $3,000 a month.

--Aging will beget religion.

--They believe medical advances will contribute the most to their retirement.

--They are not interested in cosmetic surgery.

--And their most longed-for goal for retirement is neither debt nor dependents.

So look for new retirement communities from Webb to enable retirees to plug in, turn on and buff up.

``Del Webb will never build another shuffleboard court,'' declares LeRoy Hanneman, the Phoenix-based company's president and chief executive officer. ``We are, however, building computer labs, health spas and college classrooms in our communities.''

BROKER BUZZ

--The vacancy rate for office properties in the San Fernando Valley did not budge much last year, according to Cushman Realty Corp.

The Valley's vacancy rate dipped a scant 0.53 percent in 2000 to 11.97 percent.

In the tri-cities area of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, the rate fell 0.1 percent 8.6 percent and in downtown Los Angeles if declined 2.1 percent to 22.6 percent, the highest rate in the region, the company said.

However, during the fourth quarter more space was leased, 364,571, than in any of the other sub-markets, Cushman said.

--The Hileman Co. plans to start construction this month on the $40 million The Arbors technology campus in Thousand Oaks.

The 275,000-square-foot project project is on 16.2 acres that once housed Teledyne Electronics. It's been vacant for about 10 years.

West Los Angeles-based Hileman will first demolish two obsolete manufacturing buildings and then put up a 71,000-square-foot, two-story office building. It will be the first of three such buildings at the project.

The complex will also include the 60,000-square-foot regional headquarters for Conexant Systems, a semiconductor supplier.

Completion of the first building is scheduled for July.

Hileman's project is on the north side of the Ventura Freeway near Hillcrest Drive and Rancho Conejo Boulevard.

--Billed as an entertainment industry landmark, the 9000 Sunset Building in West Hollywood, has been sold for more than $36 million, according to Cushman Realty Corp.

The 15-story building faced with black mirror glass is visible for miles in the Hollywood area. The building's west facade features one of the largest wall murals on the Sunset Strip.

Ryan Smith and Fred Cordova, directors of Cushman's downtown Los Angeles office, and Vice President H. Carl Muhlstein represented the seller, a joint venture of Realty Partners and Jupiter Realty.

The buyers are private investors.