COUNTRYWIDE MOVES HIGH-TECH UNIT; MORTGAGE LENDER JOINS CALABASAS' TECHNOLOGY CORRIDOR.

Byline: Paul O'Donoghue Staff Writer

The city's single largest employer and one of the nation's leading residential mortgage lenders officially moved its information technology unit and some administrative workers Wednesday into new local offices.

Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. officially opened the three-story, 200,000-square-foot glass building across from City Hall that will house some 400 of its 1,000 workers in the city.

``We're extremely pleased with the Calabasas community, we think it's a wonderful environment for our employees and we appreciate the partnership with the city of Calabasas,'' said Countrywide spokesman Mark Benhard.

Benhard said Countrywide's move to the new building is part of an ongoing concentration of information technology operations, including software development and programming, by companies in the so-called high-tech corridor along the Ventura Freeway between Calabasas and Thousand Oaks.

Among those slated to attend the afternoon ribbon-cutting were Countrywide's chairman Angelo Mozilo, Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Woodland Hills, and members of the Calabasas City Council.

Calabasas City Councilwoman Janice Lee welcomed the opening of the new office.

``Countrywide is a well-established business with a highly respected corporate image, and Calabasas welcomes those kinds of relationships in our city,'' said Lee.

Construction of the new building, which Countrywide leases, began about 18 months ago, and the company began relocating workers to the site from another leased building in the city last year, said Benhard.

With a loan portfolio valued at $233 billion and 500 offices nationwide, Countrywide is the nation's 25th biggest company, ranked No. 1 in the nation in wholesale mortgage lending, which concerns mortgages sold to mortgage brokers.