John Miller, senior managing director at Tishman Speyer, says the company found the "headquarters quality" building attractive as an investment for a number of reasons. Since it was originally developed as a regional headquarters for a major financial institution, it was built according to high standards, he says.

In addition, the building's current availability of space in a submarket with a very low vacancy rate offers an opportunity for upside, Miller comments. It also gives Tishman Speyer "an entry to another strong submarket of Los Angeles, where we are interested in expanding," he says.

Vacancies are decreasing and rental rates are increasing in the Westlake Village market, according to Marc Spellman of the Los Angeles North/Ventura office of Lee & Associates. "The rates are going up because of the lack of available space," Spellman tells GlobeSt.com. He says that average asking rates for class A space in the Westlake Village market have climbed to about $2.55 per sf per month, full service gross.

The Oaks at Westlake is the latest in a series of Tishman Speyer acquisitions in Los Angeles-area submarkets in the past year. Most recently, in July, the firm acquired a 239,000-sf class A office building in El Segundo.

Recent reports from CB Richard Ellis list the Westlake Village office market with a total of nearly four million sf of space. It listed about 2.5 million sf in Ventura County and 1.5 million sf in the Los Angeles County portion of the submarket.