THOUSAND OAKS—Pacific Compensation Insurance Co. has signed a 53,214-square-foot lease with Kennedy Wilson at the Oaks, a three-story 355,000-square-foot office building in Thousand Oaks. The lease was the last remaining space available, and brings the building's occupancy to 100%.

“Pacific Compensation Insurance was attracted to the building because they could have contiguous space of approximately 45,000 square feet on one floor, which allowed for maximum efficiency in the utilization of the space,” John Prabhu, president of Kennedy Wilson's commercial investment group, tells GlobeSt.com. “In addition, the Oaks is considered one of the best quality office buildings in the submarket and its close proximity to the Caruso Affiliated Promenade shopping center gives Pacific Compensation's employees access to numerous dining options and other amenities. The Oaks also benefits from professional and responsive on-site management, a unique architectural style, abundant parking and close proximity and visibility from the 101 Freeway.”

The new lease comes on the heels of a lease renewal with State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. State Farm, which has occupied the building since 2009, renewed its lease for 50,590 square feet. Cushman & Wakefield's Dennis Richardson represented State Farm, while Sheryl Mazirow of Mazirow Commercial represented Pacific Compensation.  CBRE's David Solomon, Matthew Heyn and Troy Pollet represented Kennedy Wilson in the transactions. The building's largest tenant is Baxter Healthcare Corp., which occupies 230,000 square feet in the building.

Kennedy Wilson purchased the property for $131 million in 2007 with nearly 80% occupancy. Since signing with State Farm in 2009, only 3% of the building has been vacancy, or about 10,000 square feet. With the surrounding market in the Conejo Valley improving, Kennedy Wilson was able to lease the remaining square footage of the building and achieve 100% occupancy.  “Last year, we saw slow but steady growth in the Conejo Valley office submarket, and in 2014, we have seen continued strengthening of the market,” says Prabhu. “Asking rents have increased, the market has seen positive absorption with a significant reduction in the availability of large contiguous office space in high-quality buildings, and the overall market vacancy has dropped. We remain optimistic that this trend will continue.”