FIRM FINDS ROOM IN WARNER CENTER.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS - Optical Communications Products Inc., a fiber-optics component maker recently named the top growth company by BusinessWeek magazine, is on the move again.

The company paid about $18.7 million for a big Warner Center building and on Friday began converting it to its new headquarters and research and development facility.

The 145,000-square-foot building is at 6101 Variel Ave. and is the former headquarters of plush toy maker Applause, which has moved next door.

This move will allow Optical Communications to expand the manufacturing capacity of its Chatsworth plant.

The company will use 77,000 square feet at the new location, with the remainder leased to two tenants.

``We wanted to be close to our current facility and have easy access to the different airports. And Woodland Hills is strategically where we wanted to be because it's along the 101 Corridor,'' said Susie Nemeti, Optical Communications vice president and chief financial officer.

Eventually, there will be room for more growth at the new building, she said.

The company, which employs more than 400 people, makes fiber-optic subsystems and modules that convert electronic signals into optical signals and back to electronic signals, thus enabling high-speed communication of voice and data traffic over fiber-optic networks.

Optical Communications went public in November and has been on an aggressive growth curve by targeting a niche market, metropolitan communications networks.

The company was founded in 1991 in Chatsworth with initial funding from the Furukawa Electric Co. in Japan. Optical Communications bought its 65,000-square-foot facility in 1999 and last year opened a European operation in the United Kingdom.

Customers include Cisco Systems, Alcatel and Flextronics, and growth has been impressive enough to get BusinessWeek's attention.

Last month, the magazine named Optical Communications its No. 1 hot growth company for this year.

Since 1998, the company's profits have soared 161.9 percent and sales have jumped 127.9 percent.

After the November IPO, the stock got as high as $21, fell to $5.62 in March and now is trading in the mid-$11 range. The stock closed Friday at $11.41, up 85 cents.

Optical Communications' deal for the Woodland Hills building exemplifies the attractiveness of Warner Center: The property never hit the market.

``We became aware of it from the agent who was listing it for lease and approached the owner of the sale potential and the deal came together,'' said Jerry Scullin of Van Nuys-based Delphi Business Properties, which represented Optical Communications.

Delphi's Kevin Cooper and Julien Studley Co.'s Mark Sullivan and Jonathan Wechsler also participated in the deal.

The seller, Toibb Elins Properties, was represented by Kevin Tamura and Keith Green of Daum Commercial Real Estate.

``Warner Center is a great location. We were just lucky to find (the building),'' Scullin said.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Workers erect cubicles Friday as Optical Communications moves into its new headquarters.

(2) Lisa Paymon sorts payroll paperwork amid moving boxes in the new Optical Communications building in Warner Center.

John Kennedy/Staff Photographer