TISHMAN BUYS 42 ACRES, OFFICE BUILDING.

Byline: GREGORY J. WILCOX Staff Writer

THOUSAND OAKS -- Tishman Speyer said Thursday it paid $92.5 million for a 42-acre parcel and office building that it renamed The Oaks at Westlake, adding it to a portfolio that includes such landmarks of commerce as New York's Rockefeller Center and the Chrysler Center, Berlin's Sony Center, Frankfurt's MesseTurm, the CBX Tower in Paris and Torre Norte in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

The seller, Deerfield, Ill.-based Baxter Healthcare Corp., is leasing back space in the 380,000-square-foot building, said company spokeswoman Deborah Spak. The sale will not affect Baxter's operations in Thousand Oaks, she said.

The office building is 85 percent leased and the deal demonstrates New York-based Tishman's bullish position on commercial real estate in the Los Angeles area.

``We have been and we are,'' said John Miller, Tishman's senior managing director, who runs the company's business on the West Coast.

``Southern California just has great dynamics for improvement in our business. Job growth has been healthy in most of our submarkets and ... it's not easy to develop new buildings.''

In July, the company bought a 239,000-square-foot building in El Segundo.

The Thousand Oaks complex was developed in 1982 by The Prudential Insurance Co. as its western regional headquarters.

GTE, which later became Verizon Communications, bought it in the late 1980s for its western regional headquarters and sold it to Baxter in 2001.

Verizon and HMS Capital, the mortgage company, are the other tenants.

The Oaks at Westlake's amenities include ponds, extensive parking, a dining facility, fitness center with locker rooms, an auditorium, conference rooms, a credit union and balconies.

Miller also offered an explanation of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim- like name, since the building is actually in Thousand Oaks, and in Ventura County, instead of the city of Westlake Village, in Los Angeles County.

``When we buy these buildings, we try to (have) a name linking it with the community and the property,'' he said. The building is adjacent to Westlake Village and just off Westlake Boulevard.

He did not rule out future deals in the area, either.

``We're excited about the market out there,'' he said. ``The acquisition gives us an entry to another strong submarket of Los Angeles, where we are interested in expanding.''

Gary Wartik, manager of economic development for the city of Thousand Oaks, said The Oaks at Westlake is a prestige address.

``It's a very unique building and a very beautiful building. It is clearly a headquarters-type of property.''

Jack Kyser, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said Tishman's investment in the area is not surprising and that foreign money is also coming into the region. ``They sense there is still a lot of potential here. And you have the tightening of the office market, and this facility is located in one of the hotter-growth areas around Southern California.''

greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com

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