Oak Park center loses Re/Max name
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers SIGN OF THE TIMES- Re/Max is pulling out of the Oak Park Plaza shopping center. The center will have to be renamed.

Re/Max Plaza in Oak Park will now be called Oak Park Plaza. Effective Dec. 31, the real estate firm moved out of the 4,300squarefoot space it occupied in the retail center at Kanan and Lindero Canyon roads.

"We're scaling down. There's no need anymore for such a large office," said Re/Max Realtor Cris Epstein. "I've never worked from the office. I'm always in my car."

A new office, to be called Re/ Max Estates, has opened in a recently constructed building off Agoura Road near the Agoura Hills Library.

The 3,000-square-foot office will house about 25 agents as well as a new commercial division, according to Roy Belson, president of the Agoura Hills branch.

"With the real estate market in flux the way it is, we want to be as close to the freeway and the action as we can," Belson said.

The Oak Park location did not provide the traffic visibility or the freeway convenience for clients that Belson believes the company needs. The rent was also expensive, he said.

Epstein downplayed the relocation.

"The move doesn't really affect us at all," Epstein said. "We're still close to where the core business is."

Combined sales for agents in the office are $60 million to $70 million a year, Belson said. Belson's brother Jay is chief executive officer and founder of Re/ Max OTB (on the boulevard), based in the San Fernando Valley.

At one time the company had 20 offices. There are now six. The Agoura Hills branch is the only one in the Conejo Valley, according to Roy Belson.

"We'll see a lot of consolidations in the next few months as real estate companies close offices," he said.

Although Roy Belson believes people will begin buying real estate again during the first quarter of this year, he doesn't anticipate overall improvement in the industry for another 18 months.

"The nature of the real estate office has changed. People used to walk in and ask for help," Belson said. "Buyers have a good sense of what they want, where to look and what the price should be; they are more savvy due to the Internet."

At one time, Belson and the Re/Max Plaza's former owner Allan Spiwak sought to build a larger monument sign in front of the shopping center displaying the Re/Max name and the names of the other businesses for increased visibility to passing traffic.

Residents complained to the Oak Park Municipal Advisory Council, citing aesthetics and traffic issues, among other concerns. Eventually the plan was dropped.

A sign with the center's new name will be erected soon, according to Jeff McGuire, who along with several partners purchased the shopping center last March.

Besides the Re/Max space, Oak Park Plaza also has a 2,000square-foot store available. A number of potential tenants are being considered for the two vacancies, which McGuire expects to fill by the end of January. Built in 1998, the center includes a Starbucks, hair salon/spa, restaurants and retail shops.

"We want to make sure we get businesses that are good for the community," said McGuire, who lives in Oak Park.