Conejo market recuperates with flurry of transactions.

Conejo Valley real estate has had its ups and downs lately, but with the area's vacancy rates now as tight as they have ever been, investors are coming back into the market.

IDS Real Estate Group recently completed two sales at Conejo Spectrum, the Thousand Oaks industrial park it acquired in 1998, for a total of about $49 million.

Two properties totaling 15 acres and including 160,000 square feet of office and R&D space in two buildings were sold to Fowler Property Acquisitions LLC for about $15 million.

IDS sold another two industrial buildings totaling 460,000 square feet to Palisades Associates for more than $34 million.

Tenants in the properties in the $15 million deal include the State of California, Philips Medical Systems, Kendle International and Ceres.

The other two industrial buildings are 75 percent leased to Baxter, Alcatel and Terradyne.

Since IDS acquired the 100-acre business park, it has renovated the existing buildings on about half the site and subdivided and entitled the remaining acres for sale to other developers.

The company still owns about 11 acres which are entitled for the development of a 161,000, two story office building.

"We are currently reviewing market conditions and determining whether it's the right time to go forward," said Rob Fuelling, director of marketing at L.A.-based IDS.

The Conejo region, which just a few years ago was seeing double-digit vacancy rates as the telecom bubble burst, is now registering a 6.2 percent vacancy rate in office properties and a 10 percent rate for industrial properties, with very little new construction underway, according to data released by CB Richard Ellis.

Mark Perry, Michael Slater and Ken Ashen of CB Richard Ellis represented IDS in the $15 million transaction.

Ashen, along with CB's Scott Heaton and Nick Gregg represented IDS in the $34 million transaction.

Both buyers represented themselves.

Shopping Center Brings Big Profits

The Newbury Oaks Marketplace, a community shopping center in Thousand Oaks, has sold for $23.6 million one year after the seller bought the property for $18.9 million.

Robertson Properties Group bought the 85,000-square-foot property for nearly 25 percent over the selling price a year ago, in part because the company already owns an adjacent center which is anchored by Kohl's.

"Because RPG owns the adjacent center, adding the Newbury Oaks Marketplace to their portfolio makes good since since the two centers tie in nicely to one another," said Michael Schiff, a partner in the selling entity and vice president at NAI Capital, who represented the sellers in the transaction, Directors LLC, Bolint LLC and Schiff LLC.

The center, located off the 101 Freeway at Borchard, is anchored by Vons and Longs Drugs. Longs, however, owns its own parcel and was not part of the sale.

Tarzana Redevelopment

A stretch of Ventura Boulevard in Tarzana will soon be getting a new look.

Pacific Equity Properties Inc., which acquired a five--and one-half acre stretch with some 85,000 square feet of retail space at Ventura Boulevard and Yolanda Avenue in 2003, is getting ready to redevelop the site following the shuttering two weeks ago of the Mann movie theater that occupied a large portion of the property.

Mann, along with Shoe Pavillion, which has just closed, will leave a 40,000-square-foot parcel which Pacific Equity plans to redevelop for retail and restaurant use.

The Santa Monica-based developer, perhaps best known for the redevelopment of One Colorado in Old Pasadena, is in discussions for leases on about 80 percent of the space and plans to begin tearing down the existing buildings in October.

The company is still considering a number of options for the remaining portion of the parcel.

Mann Theatres, which has operated on the site since 1972 and added three of the nine screens in 1995, said the development of stadium-seating multiplexes to the east and west of its Tarzana location led to the decision to close the complex.

"Since the addition of the Pacific Theaters in Sherman Oaks and the AMC in Woodland Hills, Tarzana's business has gone down a lot," said Peter Dobson, CEO of Mann. "All the expectations of Tarzana were predicated on being a nine-screen theater in a non-competitive zone."

Zoning restrictions prohibited the redevelopment of the theaters to include stadium seating.

Restaurant Expanding

On the heels of opening a location in Sherman Oaks and Woodland Hills, SanSai Japanese Grill has inked a deal for another Valley location in Chatsworth.

The restaurant has added about 20 locations, mostly in Southern California, since opening its doors in Glendale in 2002.

The company is currently exploring new locations in all five Southern California counties, said Irwin Hymen, a broker with NAI Capital, who represents the chain.

The new location is housed within the Winnetka Entertainment Center.

Senior reporter Shelly Garcia can be reached at [phone] or by e-mail at [e-mail].