Tech Corridor Development.

The Hileman Co. has acquired a 169,000-square-foot office-manufacturing complex in Thousand Oaks that it plans to transform into a new 275,000-square-foot, low-density technology campus.

Hileman acquired the site for $16 million from Realty Bancorp Equities of Woodland Hills. It anticipates investing another $25 million to completely redesign the property, which will be renamed The Arbors from Conejo Corporate Pointe.

Now may be an opportune time to develop, given the Conejo Valley's office vacancy rate of 8.2 percent. Jack Hileman, president of the company, said the plan is to turn around a well-located eyesore.

"We've been pursuing this property for quite some time because we think it's a fantastic location on the tech corridor," Hileman said. "We're buying a project that's been fairly overlooked."

The complex, at 649 Lawrence Drive, sits on 16 acres fronting the Ventura (101) Freeway. It is adjacent to Amgen Inc.'s and Xircom's corporate headquarters. Three one- and two-story buildings are on the site currently, one of which is 100 percent occupied by Conexant Systems Inc., a major semiconductor supplier.

Hileman plans to demolish the two remaining, obsolete manufacturing buildings and develop in their place a trio of two-story class A office buildings. Construction is scheduled to begin in November. CB is handling the leasing.

The Arbors will be Hileman's first major development under its own name. But the L.A.-based real estate firm has served as development manager for Kearny Real Estate Co.'s Pasadena Corporate Park and managed construction of Infonet Services' corporate headquarters in El Segundo.