LOS ANGELES—Younan Properties has signed a 57,200-square-foot office lease with the Human Services Agency of Ventura County at the Younan Executive Center, a 63,305-square foot office property in Simi Valley. The lease transaction is brings the building to full occupancy just eight months after Younan purchased it.

“The first thing that we did was to create a relationship with the city, and work with them to change the zoning from industrial to office to create a multi-tenant office environment that tenants would be interested in,” Zaya Younan, chairman and CEO of Younan Properties, tells GlobeSt.com. “This had always been a single-tenant asset, but it was zoned incorrectly. We were able to change the zoning and reach out to a wider audience, which led to us capturing these tenants and leasing up the building.”

Younan purchased the property eight months ago. Prior to that, the property sat vacant for four years. “Our forecast was to lease-up the property in two years, so for us to reach 100% occupancy in eight months was a pleasant surprise and the result of a lot of hard work,” says Younan. This is especially impressive considering that Simi Valley has an 18% to 20% office vacancy rate. Additionally, Younan did not add any value to the property or perform any renovations. It merely rezoned and aggressively marketed it to the right tenants. “We bought the asset eight months ago, and it was a perfect asset and in great condition,” adds Younan. “We really didn't add any capital to. We just worked very aggressively with our brokers to market it, and tenants were able to recognize the value of the asset and this location.”

The marketing team was looking for a long-term, credit-worthy tenant to fill the space, and the county fit the bill; however, the county didn't immediately sign the deal. “The County originally looked at our building, but ruled it out because Simi Valley Transit doesn't service the area and access to public transportation was one of their must-haves,” Mark Leonard, a principal of Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura, who represented Younan in the transaction, tells GlobeSt.com. “We did not want to miss this opportunity, so we came up with a unique solution, and we suggested that Younan Properties provide a private bus service to run from the last stop on the Madera Road line to the 2900 Madera. We already had a superior building with competitive economics, so once we were able to add transportation we clinched the deal.” The County will house 150 employees in the new location, which will allow it to consolidate several office buildings into the new space.

The Simi Valley office market doesn't often make headlines, nor do the other commercial real estate sectors. However, last year, Chinese single-family home developer Landsea did pinpoint the city as a growth market, and planned to construct three single-family home communities—which was part of a larger $1 billion development investment it was making in the US. Its other target markets where suburban communities outside of Newark, NJ, and San Francisco.