Western Realco, Bixby Plan Redlands Business Park
By DANIEL D. WILLIAMS
Newport Beach-based Western Realco and Bixby Land Co. of Long Beach have bought 227 undeveloped acres in Redlands with plans for a big business park.
The Redlands Business Center, which calls for industrial and office space, is set to break ground early next year and be completed in 2004, according to Gary Edwards, a vice president with Western Realco.
“I’m hearing that the market has slowed, but we’re seeing signs of recovery,” Edwards said. “And the industrial market in the Inland Empire has held up well.”
The speculative development is expected to cost about $150 million to build. Western Realco and Bixby bought the land from Union Pacific Realty, an arm of railroad operator Union Pacific Corp. A price wasn’t disclosed.
While specific plans for the site aren’t settled, Edwards said it stands to be the second-largest project in Redlands, behind Atlanta-based Robert Patillo Properties Inc.’s 250-acre, 4 million-square-foot Redlands Comm-erce Center. That park is home to a 418,000-square-foot Becton Dickinson & Co. distribution center.
Western Realco plans to build its business park in stages. Initially, it expects to push land sales and build-to-suit projects within the planned business park. Speculative development is set to start in the second quarter of 2003.
For now, Western Realco is working to get the land entitled. Initial work on curbs, gutters and utilities could start in late summer, according to Edwards. Oltmans Construction Co. of Whittier is the general contractor.
Mike Daley of Collier Seeley International Inc. represented Western Realco in the land buy and is set to market the buildings. Tustin-based Bastien and Associates Inc. is the architect for the project.
One industrial broker, John Manion with the Newport Beach office of NAI Capital Commercial Real Estate Services, said the project is part of an overall pickup in industrial activity since the fall.
“There was a slowdown from October until mid-January,” Manion said. “But I think we’re coming out of it.”
Manion said he didn’t close any sales from October until January, but now has three properties in escrow and three more near closing.
According to Manion’s latest figures, less than 5% of Orange County’s industrial buildings are for sale.
“That’s a pretty low number,” he said.
Western Realco’s Redlands project is part of a wave of big-box developments in the Inland Empire, driven in part by scarcity of land and high prices in OC.
“It makes sense,” Manion said. “You’d pay 60 cents per square foot in Orange County and can get it for 20 cents per square foot in Redlands.”
Western Realco also is developing the 57-acre Airport Mission Business Park in Ontario. It recently completed the 35-acre Commerce Way Distribution Center and 32-acre Jurupa Industrial Center, both in Fontana.
Western Realco stands to compete for potential tenants with sites in Ontario and farther afield in Victorville and Bakersfield. Redlands’ advantage is relative proximity to the ports at Los Angeles and Long Beach, according to Manion.
