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By KAREN E. KLEIN Staff Reporter

In its Cold War heyday, the Boeing FitnessCenter in West Hills represented the pinnacle ofcorporate largess.Just south of the Chatsworth Reservoir, the 8500

Fallbrook Ave. property was purchased in 1959 bythe aerospace giant and developed as a private clubwhere workers could bring their families and tem-porarily escape the pressures of the space race.

The 14-acre employee playground featured threeswimming pools, multiple tennis, volleyball and bas-ketball courts and an auditorium with room for morethan 100 couples to swirl across its dance floor.

But by the time it closed in October 2010, thegated property had become the Pratt & WhitneyRocketdyne Fitness Center – a place more likely to

Please see DEVELOPMENT page 37

Housing coming to site offormer Boeing fitness center

By MARK R. MADLER Staff Reporter

The Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc. campusin Chatsworth is about to get a huge boost fromNASA’s planned multibillion-dollar mission to senda man to Mars.

The government space agency has chosen thecompany’s RS-25 engines that provided lift for thespace shuttle as the primary source of propulsion forthe Space Launch System, a new heavy-lift rocket

that will take astronauts first to the moon and then onto the red planet.

The rocket-engine maker has already delivered 16RS-25s to NASA for testing, enough to power thefirst four flights of the new heavy rocket – but thoseare modified versions of engines originally built forthe space shuttle program.

Aerojet Rocketdyne expects that building new ver-sions of the engine will eventually account for half ofthe work for the 1,300 technicians, engineers and oth-ers employed at the plant.

The De Soto Avenue and Nordhoff Street facility

By KAREN E. KLEIN Staff Reporter

Sagar Kumar was recognized as a pioneer fiveyears ago, when his PNK Group constructed a bou-tique hotel on Ventura Boulevard near the UniversalStudios Hollywood theme park.

It was across from the 101 Freeway and the firstin the area: a busy and not particularly attractivestretch of the thoroughfare. But business travelersand tourists alike have been attracted to his 58-roomBLVD Hotel + Spa at 10730 Ventura Blvd., which he

Hotel Developer Doubles Down HOSPITALITY: PNK Group buildingsecond Ventura Boulevard boutique.

Rocket Engine Maker in Orbit Over Mars MissionAEROSPACE: NASA program boostsRocketdyne plant in Chatsworth.

PHOTO BY DAVID SPRAGUE

Suited Up: DeveloperShawn Evenhaim atFallbrook Avenue fitness center, closedfor five years.

By JOEL RUSSELL Staff Writer

When Sam’s Club approached ValleyEconomic Development Center PresidentRoberto Barragan looking for a way to help itssmall businesses clientele, he was ready with anambitious proposal.

Instead of taking the $2 million in offeredgrants and making direct loans, Barragan suggest-ed that his Sherman Oaks non-profit would use itsbanking connections to leverage the money into$20 million in loans to itself.

Bulk Buys toMicroloans

Please see FINANCE page 39

Please see AEROSPACE page 40

Please see HOSPITALITY page 38

Meeting facilities,ranked by largestroom. PAGE 8

Up Front

List

Can’t get enoughDunkin’ Donuts?Don’t worry. Moreare on the way.PAGE 7

Michael Singerfound a new-fangled use for a very old cure.PAGE 4

Retail

T H E C O M M U N I T Y O F B U S I N E S S TM

SAN FERNANDOVALLEY BUSINESS JOURNALsfvbj.com

LOS ANGELES • GLENDALE • SANTA CLARITA • BURBANK • CONEJO VALLEY • SIMI VALLEY • SAN FERNANDO • CALABASAS • AGOURA HILLS • ANTELOPE VALLEY

Volume 20, Number 12 June 15 - 28, 2015 • $4.00

Fired Up: Workers adjust segment of RS-25.

Match Point

Fred Segal isfinally coming tothe greater Valley– sort of. PAGE 5

News &Analysis

Spa Treatment: Rendering of planned hotel.

01_SFVBJ_061515.qxp 6/11/2015 11:11 AM Page 1

JUNE 15, 2015 SAN FERNANDO VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL 37

host union retiree meetings and senior exer-cise classes than swanky parties. And morerecently, the abandoned property doubled asthe forlorn remains of a post-apocalypticTucson in the Fox Broadcasting Co.’s TVshow, “The Last Man on Earth.”

Sometime later this year, however, anothertransformation will take place on the site, asconstruction begins on 90 single-familyhomes called The Oaks at West Hills.

California Home Builders, a division ofEvenhaim Industries Corp. in Canoga Park,purchased the property from Boeing NorthAmerican Fitness Inc. of Seal Beach in May2013 for an undisclosed price and won cityapproval in April for the development.

“This is probably the largest (single-familyresidential) project that’s going to be devel-oped in the West Valley in the next fewyears,” said Shawn Evenhaim, founder andchief executive of the development company.

The subdivision would consist of one- andtwo-story detached homes with two- andthree-car garages, ranging from 1,500 to3,500 square feet each. The four- and five-bedroom homes are expected to be pricedbetween $400,000 and $900,000 to attract awide range of buyers.

They also will be entirely modern, withrooftop solar panels, smart lighting and appli-ances that can be controlled from mobilephones. California Home Builders will con-struct and sell the homes, with demolition setto begin within the next few months. Projectcosts have not been disclosed.

While several single-family home devel-opments are under construction in the SantaClarita Valley, it is rare to see such a large sin-gle-family development in the densely popu-lated and mostly built-out San FernandoValley. More common are infill projects likethe 132-unit, small-lot subdivision that KBHome plans to construct in Van Nuys at thesite of a former Pinecrest Elementary school– or the host of multifamily condominiumand apartment projects under construction.

One large project is in the planning stages,though it has been downsized more than adecade after it was first announced. ForestarReal Estate Group Inc., a joint venture ofForemost Communities Inc. in NewportBeach and Starwood Capital Group GlobalLP in Greenwich, Conn. has submitted plansfor a 188-unit luxury home project at the for-mer Deerlake Ranch, a 230-acre hillside parceljust west of Porter Ranch. Even if approved,construction is likely several years away.

Kathy King, an Encino residential brokerand Los Angeles regional vice president atBerkshire Hathaway HomeServices, saidnew-home developments in the Valley havebeen practically non-existent in recent years.

“Honestly, I can’t even think of a brand-new project of 90 homes going up in – forev-er,” she said. “If there’s any new constructionat all, it’s a couple of homes here or there.There’s been nothing on this scale recently,other than some large condo projects.”

Big tractBoeing began marketing the property in

2012 and drew offers from multiple develop-ers because of the size of the parcel and thefact that it largely consists of open space,since the fitness center buildings occupy onlya small portion of the site.

“Any development company would wantto own a parcel like that. The reason Boeingselected us is that they knew we were localbuilders with 20 years’ experience in the WestValley,” Evenhaim said.

Boeing officials did not return calls forcomment on the May 2013 transaction.

After it acquired the property, CaliforniaHome Builders began meeting with communi-ty members and local stakeholders, conduct-ing a total of nine feedback sessions. “Some

people were very vocal about what they didnot want: senior housing or tall buildings ormultifamily. There were many issues weworked through before we came up with the90 single-family homes,” Evenhaim said.

After taking neighbors’ concerns intoaccount, the developer brought his plans beforethe Planning and Zoning Committee of theWest Hills Neighborhood Council last year.

Bill Rose, the committee’s chairman, saidthat by the time Evenhaim appeared at a hear-ing last year, the committee members hadalready heard worries from locals that a densemultifamily project would just add to thealready heavy traffic in the area. So when theplans for a traditional subdivision were present-ed to the committee, the reaction was positive.

“There was no significant opposition.We’ve worked with Shawn for years and weknow he does good work,” Rose said.

The Neighborhood Council recommendedapproval and the city’s Planning Commissionapproved it in April.

Valley developer California Home Builders was established in

1994, when Evenhaim began doing high-endcustom homebuilding in a market limited byrecession. By the late 1990s, he said, his firmhad acquired some land parcels and begun build-ing small, mostly infill projects in the Valley.

By last decade, the company was doinglarger projects, setting itself apart from otherdevelopers by taking a parcel from entitle-ment through to construction and sales. “Veryrarely will we sell a project to another devel-oper,” Evenhaim said.

The 30-employee firm ranked seventh inthe most recent Los Angeles Business Journallist of residential developers, with more than159 homes sold at an average price of$512,500 last year in Los Angeles County. Ithas multiple residential projects ongoing inValley communities including Van Nuys,Sylmar and Canoga Park.

One notable development is a 232-unit mul-

tifamily project on a 3.2-acre parcel on the westside of the former Panavision headquarters inWarner Center. California Home Buildersacquired the property at Variel Avenue andErwin Street from REW De Soto Partners latelast year for an undisclosed price. Movie cameramaker Panavision left the property and movedto smaller offices on Variel Avenue in 2012.

The multifamily project is not expected tobe completed for a few years, but homes atthe Boeing site should become available start-ing in about a year. It’s likely that residentialhome market conditions at that time willremain favorable for the developer, withprices largely recovered from the 2007 hous-ing crisis and subsequent recession.

In April, median home prices in the SanFernando Valley hit a post-recession high of$555,000 and there was a 2.1-month supplyof housing on the market. Typically, a six-month supply is needed to balance the marketbetween buyers and sellers.

Steve Katz, Studio City branch managerat Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage,said there is likely to be strong interest in thenew homes once they are completed.

“There is still great demand for new con-struction and it is harder to find in this area. Ifthis is at a price point that will sell, it’s a goodthing,” he said.

Recreational legacyWhile the old fitness center was a private

facility not open to the public, many longtimeValley residents who worked for Boeing or hadfriends who did have fond memories of spendingsummers swimming there, going to birthday par-ties or attending exercise classes on the grounds.A rocket-shaped jungle gym on the playgroundbecame something of a local landmark.

But retired postal employee LaurenOberhansley, who lives near the property,recalled that the club had an exclusive air andwasn’t particularly neighborhood-friendly.“The ladies who acted as receptionists wouldnot even allow the letter carriers to use thebathroom facilities,” she said.

After the center closed, she and othershoped that it might be turned into a communi-ty asset, perhaps as a senior center, summercamp for kids or membership-based fitnesscenter. “It’s always made me sad that nothingcould be done to work together with the com-pany that owned those facilities. It could havebeen a place where (neighborhood) familiescould get to know each other,” she said.

By this fall, the crumbling tennis courts,dance floor and empty swimming pools at theformer fitness center are likely to be gone,with grading for the new-home developmentstarting late this year.

In public hearings for the project, no oneasked that the property’s former use be memo-rialized. “It was a private country club, so noone in the community raised the idea of put-ting up a marker and there’s nothing of signifi-cance there architecturally,” Evenhaim said.

But the idea of recreation will be carriedon in one way: A 15,000-square-foot space inthe new home tract will be set aside for use asa public park. “I’m happy that we’re doingthat there,” he said.

Development: Traditional Subdivision Preferred

Drained: Evenhaim peers into empty pool at former Boeing Fitness Center in West Hills, where 90 homes are planned.PHOTO BY DAVID SPRAGUE

Continued from page 1

‘Honestly, I can’t even thinkof a brand-new project of90 homes going up in –

forever. If there’s any newconstruction at all, it’s acouple of homes here or there. There’s been nothing on this scale

recently, other than somelarge condo projects.’KATHY KING, BerkshireHathaway HomeServices

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