Western Real Estate Business magazine covers the multifamily, retail, office, healthcare, industrial and hospitality sectors in the Western United States.
Issue link: https://westernrealestatebusiness.epubxp.com/i/873170
www.REBusinessOnline.com Western Real Estate Business • September 2017 • 61 John Balestra, senior vice president of TCC's SoCal – Los Angeles busi- ness unit, notes there were major ben- efits to seeking out untapped areas of the county. "There are many advantages to businesses operating in the City of Santa Clarita, including a lower cost of doing business, a tax incentive credit program, film and television production credits, and research and development tax credits," he says. "With a strategic location for manu- facturing and distribution within the Greater LA and Southern California regions and beyond, access to abun- dant skilled labor, and low crime and a high quality of life, we are excited to deliver a best-in-class project to the City of Santa Clarita community, which, at full build-out, will create thousands of employment opportuni- ties for local residents." Balestra may be onto something, as Santa Clarita was named the "Most Business-Friendly City in Los Angeles County" in 2016 by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Cor- poration. The Center at Needham Ranch is situated at the southern entrance to the city, within one mile of the in- tersection between Interstate 5 and Highway 14, just 30 miles from Down- town Los Angeles and 15 miles from Burbank Airport. The project directly links to all areas within the San Fer- nando Valley and Greater Los Angeles County population centers, making it easily accessible from major highways like the 5, 14, 405, 210, 118 and 126, in addition to Metrolink access via the Newhall Station. "The extreme supply and demand imbalance makes projects such as the Center at Needham Ranch attractive given the severe lack of supply, in particular for modern Class A space," says Michael Marrone, vice president at Clarion Partners. The Center at Needham Ranch is one of several projects launched as part of the national industrial devel- opment program established by the TCC-Clarion Partners venture. The program is focused on the develop- ment of new Class A industrial build- ings in targeted markets throughout the U.S. Plans have already been developed for the project's second phase, which would include additional speculative industrial space and build-to-suit sites for industrial, office, and research and development facilities up to 400,000 square feet. CBRE's Craig Peters, who, along with Doug Sonderegger is serving as the leasing agent for the Center at Needham Ranch, believes this project and those like it will provide some much-needed relief to the area's in- dustrial supply, or lack thereof. "The Greater Los Angeles indus- trial market continues to benefit from steady tenant demand as virtually ev- erything on the market attracted solid activity, with vacancy throughout the northern region sitting at 1.1 percent, a historical low," he says. "The Cen- ter at Needham Ranch will provide a first-class business park in the south- ern end of the Santa Clarita Valley, which has limited available land for commercial development." Tejon Ranch About 45 miles up I-5, halfway to Bakersfield, is the community of Tejon Ranch, another targeted area for in- dustrial developers like Tejon Ranch Co. (a joint venture between Tejon Ranch and Majestic Realty Co.), which is busy building an additional 480,480 square feet of speculative industrial space at Tejon Ranch Commerce Cen- ter. The center is a 1,450-acre, master- planned, fully entitled industrial/ commercial complex situated at the juncture of Interstate 5 and Highway 99. The new building will be located at 5337 Wheeler Ridge Road. The build- ing will feature spaces from 120,000 square feet to 240,000 square feet with 115 dock-high positions and four ground-level loading doors. The 185- foot truck courts will provide maxi- mum efficiency and maneuverability in the truck areas for logistics users. Additional features include 180' deep truck courts, 204 trailer parking stalls and 165 vehicle stalls, 36-foot clear height for e-commerce and modern logistics users, a seven-inch minimum floor slab and an ESFR sprinkler sys- tem. The new space will be available for occupancy this September. Colliers In- ternational is heading up the leasing efforts. "The new state-of-the-art building will offer tenants a highly efficient fa- cility, strategically located with access to California's main highways and re- gional commerce centers," says Hugh McMahon, executive vice president for commercial and industrial real estate at the Tejon Ranch Company. "With the combination of building features and surrounding amenities, we anticipate leasing this building quickly, especially due to the lack of available product in the North Los Angeles market." The center offers turnkey industrial sites for distribution, manufacturing and e-commerce operations. Notable existing tenants include Ikea, Famous Footwear, Dollar General and Cat- erpillar, which serve all of California and the 11 Western states. Additional amenities at Tejon Ranch Commerce Center include the Outlets at Tejon, a 365,000-square-foot center with more than 60 premier retailers, as well as other retail, dining and lodging op- tions. The project's location north of Los Angeles affords users the ability to serve nearly 90 percent of Califor- nia consumers within a single-day truck turn and more than 40 million people for next-day delivery service. In addition to its proximity to Santa Clarita, Tejon Ranch is only 22 miles from Bakersfield, 77 miles from Downtown LA and 300 miles from the Bay Area. Daum Commercial notes the indus- trial market north of Los Angeles has picked up so much steam that median prices have experienced double-digit price growth from 2014 to 2016, ac- cording to its second quarter of 2017 industrial report. The report further notes this price growth is up another 7.3 percent year to date in 2017, mark- ing even more positive news for those able to capitalize on a market that may offer more development and invest- ment opportunity than its port-adja- cent brethren. "The overall industrial market re- mains a landlord-controlled market," it states. "We expect vacancy to re- main in the 2 percent range, with rents expected to rise another 4 percent to 6 percent in the coming year." While this, like all markets, will not last forever, it can provide a promis- ing alternative to those who want to enjoy everything Los Angeles County has to offer its industrial sect, without the fever-pitch competition occurring closer to the coast. n 54 YEARS OF PERFORMANCE NOT PROMISES Specializing in the Sale of Commercial Investment Property and the Sales and Leasing of Office, Industrial and Retail Bobbi Miracle CCIM, SIOR Senior Vice President Bobbi@CEVegas.com Soozi Jones Walker CCIM, SIOR Broker/President Soozi@CEVegas.com (702) 316-4500 7219 W. Sahara, Suite #100, Las Vegas, NV 89117