Tech anomaly. (Real Estate).

Spotted: A West Valley technology company that's actually increasing its office space.

Media Corp. took 27,000 square feet at Malibu Canyon Business Park in Calabasas in a four-year sublease deal with Redwood City, Calif.-based Clarent Corp.

Medea, which manufactures disk storage systems, is moving to 26707 Agoura Rd. from its Lindero Canyon Road corporate offices, expanding its space by 50 percent in the process. Financial consideration figures were not disclosed, but sources estimate the sublease deal at about $2 million.

The expansion comes at a time when vacancy rates on the tech-heavy 101 Corridor have been on the upswing. West Valley vacancy rates in the fourth quarter 2001 were 17 percent, up from 10 percent in the year-earlier quarter, according to Grubb & Ellis Co.

"It's one of the few examples out there where a technology company has expanded," said CRESA Partners Principal Dave Toomey, who, with Brian Davies, represented Medea in the deal. "They were out of space."

One tech firm's gain is another's loss. The space became available after Clarent, a data network service provider, downsized its operations, cutting its 55,000-square-foot occupancy at the business park down to 21,000 square feet, with an additional 7,000 square feet still on the sublease market. "Clarent had excess space that was built out, furnished and wired," said Toomey. "It was a fast deal."

Margie Fichter at Cushman & Wakefield Inc. represented Clarent on the deal.