By CAROL PARK
Two Orange County developers are taking part in a retail and office building boom in Rancho Cucamonga.
Newport Beach-based Richard Dick & Associates and Costa Mesa’s Trico Realty Inc. have a combined 274,725 square feet of planned or developed retail and office space in the Inland Empire city, which is east of Ontario.
In all, about 1 million square feet of office space is planned or under construction in Rancho Cucamonga, said Mike Nelson, economic development manager for the city.
The development is part of an ongoing shift playing out across the Inland Empire, where massive warehouses have dominated development for years.
Now Corona, Ontario and other cities are pushing office buildings as the next stage of development, hoping to lure businesses from Orange and Los Angeles counties.
Rancho Cucamonga “evolved from manufacturing and industrial development to residential (then) to retail and now to office development,” Nelson said. “It’s a natural step for the city.”
The trend has long-term factors in its favor, including a growing Inland Empire population and rising costs for businesses along the coast.
But the slowing economy and weakening office market has become a concern for developers in the near term.
“I like the market right now but I fear the bumps in the road,” said Richard Dick, owner of Richard Dick & Associates.
Richard Dick & Associates is developing Foothill Home Center, a five-building project that’s set to include 120,000 square feet of stores and office space. The center is set to open early next year.
Richard Dick also is developing office space in the city’s Bixby Business Park. The development includes a 33,020-square-foot, two-story office building and a planned 28,000-square-foot, two-story office building.
Earlier, the company developed Fairway Business Center II, a 28,085-square-foot office building.
Trico Realty is behind Trico Business Center, a 62,620-square-foot office building. It’s leasing space there for $1.90 per square foot a month, about 45% less than the average for office space in OC.
The building is divided into 38 suites from 1,700 to 2,500 square feet. The center is Trico’s first project in the Inland Empire.
“It used to be that corporate users were only interested in Ontario because of its airport and recognized name,” said Tom Pierik, a vice president in the Riverside office of Orange-based Commercial Real Estate Services. “But Rancho Cucamonga has come a long way. The two cities are much closer now.”
The Inland Empire is starting to get submarkets “similar to what happened in the Orange County market,” Piereik said.
The hope is lure businesses from the coast, according to Rancho Cucamonga’s Nelson.
“Rancho is on the radar screen of a lot of folks right now,” he said.
The city is pushing building designs that get away from the boxy look common in Ontario and throughout the Inland Empire.
“We want buildings to be more than a box,” Nelson said. “It’s kind of a catch 22, because developers complain about our standards being too high. But at the end of the day, the value of the property is better and the developers are happy.”
The two biggest projects in Rancho Cucamonga are by New York-based Rockefeller Group International Inc. and IDS Real Estate Group.
Rockefeller’s $64 million, 20-building, 240,000-square-foot project is slated for completion by mid-2008 with the first of the buildings ready by year’s end. The buildings are set to be sold.
Newport Beach-based Collins Commercial Corp. is handling sales for Rockefeller.
“It made sense to Rockefeller to develop in the city because of its 3% vacancy rate,” said Daniel Foye, a Collins Commercial vice president. “There is interest.”
Los Angeles-based IDS Real Estate Group completed Empire Corporate Plaza in September. The project, valued at more than $50 million, includes 84,604 square
feet of office space housed in three, two-story buildings.
Projects recently completed or under way in Rancho Cucamonga
– Rockefeller Group: 20 two-story office buildings
– WF Construction: Rochester Park, a 14-building medical, office complex
– YNS Enterprises: Masi Business Center, a nine-building business park
– Richard Dick & Associates: Foothill Home Center, 120,000-square-foot retail and office project; 61,000 square feet of office space in Bixby Business Park; Fairway Business Center II, a 28,085-square-foot office building
– Trico Realty: Trico Business Center, a 62,620-square-foot office building
– Hillwood and Lewis Operating Corp.: Vintner’s Grove, 123,822 square feet of office and medical buildings
– Hileman: Haven Park, a hotel, 21,000 square feet of retail space and a 7,500-square-foot corner restaurant, two 75,000-square-foot office buildings
– IDS Real Estate Group: Empire Corporate Plaza, 84,604 square feet of office space
