John DeGrinis, senior vice president of Colliers Seeley International's San Fernando Valley office, who helped negotiate the lease for CERES says the firm's planned April move will place CERES in a hub of biotech firms that operate along the 101 Technology Corridor of Ventura County.

"This is another example of a biotech company that sees advantages to the Conejo Valley," DeGrinis says of CERES' move from its former Malibu location at the Hughes Research Laboratory to the area's brimming high-tech and biotech epicenter. The Conejo Spectrum, a 100-acre master-planned technology business campus, is home to several well-known firms including Amgen, Baxter, BMW, Alcatel, Verizon, Teradyne, THQ and Net Zero.

Faced with limited available property in Malibu for expansion, CERES opted to move into the area's high-tech corridor not only to tap into an expanded location, but also to tap into the region's wealth of high-tech employees, DeGrinis says. The firm's new 1535 Rancho Conejo Blvd. location gave the company nearly double the space it formerly occupied along with enough room on which to build a 6,000-sf greenhouse for its biotech research, he adds.

DeGrinis, who represented CERES in the deal, also serves as a marketing partner for Conejo Spectrum. Ken Ashen and Nick Gregg of CB Richard Ellis represented the Conejo Spectrum in the transaction.