WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CA-The locally based Selleck Development Group has acquired a 21.5-acre foreclosed property at 30800 Russell Ranch Rd. that is the last remaining development site in Westlake Village, according to Lee & Associates. President Mike Tingus of Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura Inc., who represented both the buyer and seller Bank of America, along with Lee’s Grant Fulkerson, says that Selleck's was the winning bid among numerous offers, many of which were contingent on the receipt of new entitlements from the city of Westlake Village.

Tingus explains that the site was previously owned by Opus West and was slated for 450,000 square feet of office space, but the entitlements for that proposal have expired. Selleck chose to move ahead with the acquisition without entitlements and plans to draft a new proposal for the site, which fronts the Ventura (101) Freeway.

“Obviously there are challenges that go with acquiring land that is not entitled,” said Dan Selleck, president and owner of Selleck Development Group, “but we live in the area and have done business with this community for over 20 years, so we are very confident that we can come up with a development plan that the city and community will embrace.” Selleck plans to begin gathering input from city officials and the community shortly. Once a development plan is drafted, he expects to present it to the community for additional input.

Tingus described bidder interest in the site as "unusually high,” even in light of some encouraging signs in the real estate market in recent months. He points out that real estate financing has accelerated in recent months and deal flow is on the rise, although it’s expected to take several more years before the recovery is in full swing.

Selleck believes that the Russell Ranch Road project, which will likely come to market over the next two or three years, will parallel the economic recovery. The Plant, a 100-acre mixed-use retail and industrial complex in Panorama City that Selleck developed in the mid-90s, also came to market as the last recession was abating. The site had been the location for a General Motors factory that was shuttered late in the 1980s taking many jobs with it, and the Plant, which created 2,500 jobs, was largely credited with helping to revitalize the area.

“Westlake Village’s economy is far healthier than was Panorama City in the mid-90s, but the fact is that this site on Russell Ranch Road has not been productive for more than 10 years, and when we are able to put it to work, we will also be able to put more people to work,” Tingus said.