By DAVE COLLINS
A former Sunkist processing plant in Corona is set to give way to offices and industrial space designed for Orange County businesses seeking space just beyond the Riverside County line.
Newport Beach developer Shaw Properties plans to develop the $30 million Citrus Woods Business Center at the former lemon plant near Interstate 15 and the Riverside (91) Freeway.
Shaw Properties bought the 90-year-old plant at a foreclosure sale last year for $4.2 million. The previous owner, High Country, a natural juice company, ran into financial trouble. The building was sold to help pay off the company’s debts.
Approval for Shaw Properties’ project is expected to come this month. Construction could start in December. The buildings are set to be done in mid-2006.
Plans call for 29 buildings, including 14 industrial buildings ranging from 5,300 to 10,800 square feet of space, and 15 office buildings ranging from 3,400 to 5,300 square feet.
Shaw Properties plans to sell them to businesses looking to own their own building.
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Lemon crate label: Shaw turning former Sunkist lemon plant into office, industrial buildings for sale |
Up to 800 workers could be employed at the Citrus Woods Business Center after businesses move in.
The center is being built mostly for OC companies looking to move to Corona, said Kevin Klemm, a principal with Shaw Properties.
OC companies already have shown interest in the project, according to Corona city officials.
Companies have moved from OC to Corona to lower costs, though real estate prices in the neighboring areas now are on par.
Consider rents. Office space in Corona is the highest in the Inland Empire at about $2.30 per square foot,about that of South County and the area around John Wayne Airport, according to CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.
Rents in parts of North County are more affordable than Corona.
Corona does have slightly cheaper home prices and lower costs for businesses. The city ranked among the lowest-cost big cities in California in the 2004 Kosmont-Rose Institute Cost of Doing Business Survey, which looked at taxes, fees, electricity and other expenses.
In OC, only Anaheim and Orange ranked among the lowest-cost big cities.
Availability of space and access to workers could be driving businesses to Corona. OC has an office vacancy rate of 6.8%, below the Inland Empire’s 9%. Industrial space, which is more dominant in the Inland Empire, is tighter: 2.8% versus OC’s 3.6%.
But some OC industrial space is giving way to housing. Lennar Corp. has displaced several businesses around Angel Stadium of Anaheim by paying top dollar for industrial space. The buildings are set to be converted to housing, including high-rise condominiums, and shops.
Industrial space is being transformed to housing elsewhere in Anaheim and in Irvine.
Another developer, Los Angeles-based Lowe Enterprises Inc. plans to redevelop a battery plant in Fullerton as small buildings for sale or lease. Lowe is targeting businesses displaced by Anaheim’s redevelopment.
Several OC companies already have made the move to the Inland Empire.
They include Columbia, Md.-based U.S. Foodservice Inc., which moved a distribution center from Santa Ana to Corona Crossroads, a 40-acre, $42 million industrial park with 750,000 square feet of space.
Other OC companies that have made the move to the Inland Empire are BTL Machine, an aerospace parts maker, Newport Trading, a furniture importer, and Colours ‘N Motion Inc., a wheelchair maker.
The moves are part of a larger trend. More than 400 companies moved to Riverside and San Bernardino counties from 2001 to 2005. The trend is expected to continue into 2006, according to economists.
Companies have left OC for the Inland Empire since the 1980s, said Corona Economic Development Director Nancy Martin. The pace has picked up, she said.
“Companies are leaving the coastal counties and moving to Corona every day,” Martin said. “They are looking to lower their costs. It’s cheaper to do business in the Inland Empire and we are trying to encourage them to move here.”
About half of businesses that move to Corona are from the coastal counties, with 40% specifically coming from OC, Martin said.
Shaw Properties doesn’t have any deals in place yet for Citrus Woods Business Center, according to Klemm. The developer has gotten interest from architectural firms, civil engineering companies, title and escrow companies, banks and other businesses, he said.
Prices haven’t been set for the buildings, said Jack Faris, a broker with Voit Commercial Brokerage LP, which has been hired to market the project. A site plan for Citrus Woods Business Center should be done this month, he said.
“There are lots of variables in a big project like this,” he said. “It’s been nudged back a bit but that’s not out of the ordinary on a project of this magnitude.”
Sunkist Growers Inc., based in Sherman Oaks, processed lemons into byproducts at the Corona plant from 1915 to 1983, when it moved the operation to the Central Valley.
Collins is a freelance writer covering Southern California real estate.
