Exxon to Close Its County Operation : Thousand Oaks: The firm joins other oil giants that have reduced or eliminated their area presence in the past decade. The work force will relocate to Santa Barbara.

In a blow painful both economically and symbolically, Exxon Corp. has announced plans to close its West Coast production headquarters in Thousand Oaks and relocate 150 employees.

Exxon’s departure underscores the decline of the oil industry that once powered Ventura County, shaping the regional economy, influencing local politics and employing much of the work force during the 1940s and ‘50s.

Texaco, Chevron, Mobil and Shell have slashed or eliminated their Ventura County operations in the past decade. Soon, Exxon will shift its attention to a $2.5-billion oil production complex in Santa Barbara, though some support staff may remain in the Conejo Valley, spokeswoman Connie Clay said.

“It’s certainly a loss to have a good employer like Exxon go,” Thousand Oaks Mayor Judy Lazar said. “They’ve been a big asset to the community.”

Steve Rubenstein, president of the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, was more blunt: “Isn’t that the pits,” he said glumly.

Even if another corporation replaces Exxon, Thousand Oaks will suffer from the loss because “it’s always prestigious for a community to have a name like Exxon” as a major tenant, Rubenstein said.

Aside from the loss of up to 150 jobs, Exxon’s decision to sell its luxurious 12.6-acre facility puts even more pressure on an already glutted office market.

One-fifth of Ventura County’s existing commercial space is vacant, and 37% of those available offices are in Thousand Oaks, according to a report by the Siracusa Co., a local real estate research firm. The Exxon building will add 166,530 square feet of vacant space to the sagging east county market.

Already, Thousand Oaks political and business leaders have been urging corporations to snap up some of the existing office space while market prices remain relatively low. But intense lobbying efforts, focused especially on the deserted Northrop facility in Newbury Park, have not been very successful, officials said.

Exxon’s move will increase pressure on the city to recruit new industries, Lazar said.

The oil company’s shift to Santa Barbara represents the end of a steady exodus from Ventura County that began in the mid-1980s. Since coming to Thousand Oaks a decade ago, Exxon has gradually scaled back its Ventura County work force, from a peak of 400 to the current 150, spokeswoman Clay said.

Meanwhile, Texaco Inc. shifted its local operations to Denver, cutting 140 jobs, and Chevron abandoned a half-built headquarters in Ventura to set up shop in Bakersfield, laying off or transferring 200 employees.

“As regulatory burdens grow greater and greater, it is no longer economical to incorporate all the regulations and we’re forced to grow elsewhere,” Chevron spokesman G. Michael Marcy said. “When we leave, we take with us our payroll, the taxes we pay to local government and our charitable contributions. The services that supply the industry, from welding to offshore laundry to crew boats--all of that business goes as well.”

An Exxon spokeswoman emphasized that the company’s decision had nothing to do with Ventura County, but involved transferring administrators and accountants who will work closely with the new facility in Santa Barbara.

But Thousand Oaks Assistant City Manager MaryJane Lazz blamed California’s notorious red tape and costly regulations on workers’ compensation and air-quality control.

The bottom line, Lazz said: “When Exxon leaves, those jobs will no longer be available here. And there are always spinoff effects, because these were people who were living here and shopping here.”

Yet Exxon will not close its Thousand Oaks operation until it finds a buyer for its campus-like complex on West Hillcrest Drive--three wings connected by an open-air atrium, artificial stream and perpetually lush lawn.

With a price tag of $21 million, Exxon’s facility will very likely attract corporations with at least 300 employees, and thus the sale could actually add jobs to the east county, said broker Lynwood Fields, who is charge of selling the building.

Of course, selling the custom-built complex might not be easy.

The city has been trying for five years to find a buyer for its old headquarters at 401 W. Hillcrest Drive, atop a hill just around the corner from the sleek gray Exxon building.

But at $15 million, the run-down former City Hall has not attracted much interest. The Thousand Oaks council recently established a citizens committee to draft a development plan for the 34-acre parcel and peddle it to prospective tenants.

Because the city hopes to rezone the land around City Hall, possibly for a housing complex, the tract will not compete in the same market with the Exxon building, which is solely office space, said Ed Johnduff, the city’s administrative services manager.

Real estate broker Fields, a senior vice president at Beitler Commercial Realty Services, said he is optimistic that he can sell the Exxon complex, which offers mountain views from nearly every office and easy access to the Ventura Freeway.

“We have more than a few companies looking at it which have expressed serious interest,” Fields said. “More and more corporations are trying to get away from the high-rise, structured environment of the city, and this facility is much more relaxed. And overall, the quality of life is better here.”