Filling a hole.

Equity Office Properties has nearly back-filled a large vacancy created at a Westwood Village office building when Walt Disney Co. and billionaire Haim Saban sold the Family Channel to News Corp.

The subsequent 300,000-square-fool vacancy has left the building at 10960 Wilshire Blvd. nearly two-thirds empty since 2001.

Equity, the nation's largest office landlord, inked a 77,000-square-foot lease with Sony Pictures Entertainment, the studio's television arm. Terms weren't disclosed, but sources believed the five-year deal is worth close to $11 million.

Steve Walbridge, Carl Muhlstein, Eric Olofson of Cushman & Wakefield Inc. represented Sony.

Equity is in advanced talks with Internet service provider Earthlink Inc. to take two floors of space that could fill another 50,000 square-feet in the building, according to sources. A standard 10-year deal could be worth about $13.5 million, the sources said.

Also recently signing on are Infospace Inc., which has entered a lease for 25,000-square feet that sources said could be worth $4 million. Law firm Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP also inked a deal to occupy 25,000 square feet, which sources pegged at $8 million. Nathan Piehl of Equis Corp. represented InfoSpace and Mike McRoskey and Frank Scott of CB Richard Ellis Inc. represented the law firm.

And, as previously reported, Gannett Co. Inc. signed a seven-year lease for 11,887 square feet worth $2.5 million.

Frank Campbell, Equity's vice president of leasing, said large tenants like the Family Channel are rare for Westwood, where most tenants tend to be moderate in size.

He said the smaller-sized tenants also reduces the risk of having one major user close their doors, leaving a large vacancy that can take time to replace.

"Sometimes with big tenants, which Saban/Disney was, it's good while they're there but it can be a lot of work to backfill when they leave," Campbell said. "Westwood historically has been a small- to mid-size tenant market. Disney was somewhat of an anomaly."

The building's leasing team, which represented EOP in all four lease transactions, includes Chris Houge and Rick Buckely of Madison Partners and EOP's David Hitzel.

Staff reporter Andy Fixmer can be reached by phone at [phone], ext. 263, or by email at [e-mail].