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City extends park office lease for three years
Work at King Gillette Ranch won't allow planned 2009 move
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More from Conejo ValleyThe National Park Service, which planned to move its local office to the King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas next year, now expects to stay in Thousand Oaks through 2011, officials say.
Earlier this year, the agency had extended its lease through 2009 for the space it is using at 401 W. Hillcrest Drive, which once was City Hall.
On Tuesday night, the Thousand Oaks City Council approved a lease extension through Oct. 31, 2011. The extension includes several rent increases.
The federal agency currently pays a base rent of $454,000 a year for the office space, which includes the National Park Service visitor center for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Under the new lease agreement, the agency will pay $500,000 next year, $525,000 for the following year and $550,000 in the final year.
"The issue is that Gillette Ranch is not going to be ready for us to move into for the next two years," said Park Service spokesman Charles Taylor. "We are still going to need a headquarters in Thousand Oaks and, to be honest, we like it there."
The Park Service moved to the 17,375-square-foot hilltop location in 1998. For years, officials have anticipated the move to the 588-acre ranch, which was founded by razor magnate King C. Gillette in 1926.
The agency will share the Calabasas site with employees of California State Parks, the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. The conservancy and conservation authority already have staff members there.
Taylor said new buildings will have to be constructed at the ranch, which is home to several original structures designed by famed architect Wallace Neff. Some buildings will have to be retrofitted.
The Park Service is also building a dormitory for interns that will meet "Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design" certification.
In 2005, park agencies and other government entities teamed up to buy the property from Soka University for $35 million. The property, on Mulholland Highway at Las Virgenes Road, was opened to the public on July 1, 2007, and is the site of guided hikes and other programs.
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