29,000 sf leased at Castilian Tech Center

Two South Coast companies have leased a significant portion of the available space at the Castilian Tech Center, an office and research park near the intersection of Hollister Avenue and Los Carneros Road in Goleta. Engineering firm Control Point leased 14,227 sf for its corporate headquarters at 110 Castilian Drive, while growing software company AppFolio leased 14,527 sf at 50 Castilian Drive. Francois DeJohn, Steve Hayes and Greg Bartholomew of Hayes Commercial Group represented the lessor, Nassau Land Company. Francois DeJohn and Steve Hayes also represented Control Point and AppFolio in the transactions.

Control Point moved to Castilian Tech Center from downtown Santa Barbara, where it had occupied 14,891 sf at 360 Olive Street since 2008. Founded in 1995, the firm provides management and engineering services specializing in multi-discipline, model-based design for complex systems that include combat, automotive, robotics, avionics and aerospace, guidance and navigation, health management, diagnostics, monitoring, and survivability systems. In addition to its headquarters in Goleta, the corporation has facilities in Michigan, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.

“Moving from Santa Barbara to Goleta allowed Control Point to lease significantly nicer office space with more parking, all at a 10% discount compared to downtown,” said Steve Hayes, partner with Hayes Commercial Group.

AppFolio provides web-based software solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. Its first system serves the property management industry and has spread like wildfire, largely by word of mouth. Having outgrown its 8,927 sf home at 55 Castilian Drive, the company is moving across the street to a 14,527 sf space at 50 Castilian Drive. As discussed in Hayes Commercial Group’s first quarter report, many of the leases this year represent expansions by locally-based companies, and AppFolio is another example of that trend.

“AppFolio was looking to find a space to meet their immediate expansion requirements and allow the option to continue growing in the future,” Francois DeJohn said. “50 Castilian was an excellent fit, and thanks to market timing, the cost per square foot is about 15% lower than they paid previously.”

Castilian Technology Center was built in the late 1990s and is comprised of six buildings totaling 230,000 sf. A handful of class A office spaces of various sizes are still available for lease there.

Office leasing has picked up considerably this year in Goleta with 25 leases signed by the end of May, compared to 27 leases completed in all of 2010. In addition, the square footage leased this year has already surpassed the total for all of 2010.