Malibu PCH Office Fully Leased Before Completion.

IT's not exactly every day that a new office building debuts in Malibu. So it's no surprise that the first new project on the Pacific Coast Highway in the past decade is leased up several months before it's finished.

The $8 million, 26,000-square-foot Enclave project is being built into a hillside on the inland side of the PCH, half a mile east of the pier.

Woodland Hills-based Winco Asset Management acquired the property (which earlier had been tied up in a lawsuit) in January 1998. Winco scraped several old one-story buildings on the site and began building last year. It is slated for completion this summer, said Winco principal Richard Shapiro.

The three green-hued, bungalow-style buildings aren't your typical office environment, even by Westside standards. The offices feature floor-to-ceiling windows to take advantage of the 180-degree ocean views, patios and 14-foot-high vaulted wooden ceilings. Solar light shelves will bounce light deep into the interior space, while overhangs on the exterior block direct sunlight from most angles.

It was designed by Clive Bridgwater, who is predominantly a high-end residential architect. Shapiro said he wanted to incorporate Bridgwater's residential expertise into a commercial environment and blend it into the landscape.

"We wanted something special. Because it's so long, it's going to look big, so we wanted it to make a statement, but not be an offensive statement," Shapiro said.

The largest tenant is the toy company JAKKS Pacific, which leased about 20,000 square feet and is moving from elsewhere in Malibu.

The city of Malibu is currently considering a development proposal from its largest commercial property owner, the Perenchio family, which would end a 10-year land war. Shapiro said his small project was actually relatively easy to build.

"It's a difficult environment to develop in, but we've had terrific luck," he said.

Winco also performs asset and property management services and is the fee developer for a 165,000-square-foot office project in the West Valley called the Terraces at Parkway Calabasas.