Huntington Hotel Group has picked up a 5.7-acre site in suburban Agoura Hills and plans to build two hotels with a combined total of 225 to 250 rooms. Bisnow caught up with Lee & Associates’ LA North/Ventura principal John Battle to get the details.

John (snapped with grandson Zach playing golf in the Dominican Republic earlier this year) tells us the site at 29508 Roadside Dr is part of larger 16- to 18-acre parcel controlled by the seller, Selleck Development Group. He repped both buyer and seller, along with Lee & Associates principals Mike Tingus  and Grant Fulkerson.

John says Selleck had not been actively marketing this site, but asked his team to explore the options, after handling an industrial deal for the firm in Chatsworth. John says there's a shortage of hotel rooms in the LA region, causing occupancy and average daily rates to rise significantly since the end of the recession. The LA County Economic Development Corp reported earlier this year that hotel occupancy in this area was 75.2%, with the average daily rate nearly $111 in 2013.

John says all of the new hotels opening up in the San Fernando-Conejo Valley area are doing well. “We realized right away that this site’s highest and best use is a hotel, so we focused our marketing efforts on hotel developers,” he explains, pointing out the site is along the busy Ventura/101 Freeway, just west of the Kanan Road exit, which provides access to Malibu. Huntington paid $5.6M for the site.

John tells Bisnow Selleck is planning a retail development compatible with the hotel use on the adjacent land. “Selleck will have a good mix of tenants, including LA Fitness Center, shops and possibly a freestanding restaurant, which will serve hotel guests,” he says.