Jul. 9--A worldwide developer of industrial properties has purchased 400 acres in Adelanto and will build an industrial park there that could employ up to 700 people.
AMB Adelanto Gateway Logistics Center will be built directly across from the Southern California Logistics Airport and serve as a distribution hub for the Los Angeles basin as well as Arizona, Nevada and Utah, said Kim Snyder, managing director with AMB Property Corp. in San Francisco.
"It's going to be a super-regional project," Snyder said.
The logistics center will consist of 10 to 15 industrial buildings that will range from 550,000 to 1.5 million square feet each. Most of those structures will be built on speculation, but AMB Property expects to develop several buildings for specific tenants.
The build-to-suits probably will have more office space, but all of the structures will have warehouse-distribution facilities along with room for manufacturing, Snyder said.
All of the buildings will be for sale or lease, with AMB Property set to manage the leased properties.
Construction cost wasn't disclosed. The project, which is still being reviewed by the city of Adelanto, is expected to begin construction in about two years.
No tenants have been signed, but the project is "generating interest" among prospective buyers and lessees, including several AMB Property tenants who might want to expand to the High Desert, Snyder said.
Adelanto officials could not be reached for comment.
The purchase was completed in mid-June and announced July 2. Cost of the land, which AMB Property bought from a series of private investors, wasn't disclosed.
Snyder called the negotiations "low-key" and said AMB Property officials were satisfied with the price they paid for the property.
"In relation to the [Los Angeles] basin it wasn't a high price," Snyder said. "Putting together that much property isn't easy but we've done a few of these during the past few years so we knew what we were doing. It was an assembly of property owners. None of the sellers got too [expensive] on us."
"This is going to be one of the biggest [logistics] projects up here, and it will be a little bit of competition for the airport," said Don Brown, president of Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services' Victorville office. "The fact that it will have some manufacturing means it will bring a lot of workers up here."
AMB Property Corp. develops large logistics projects in North America, Europe and Asia. Most of those developments are in the infill areas of a major market, like the High Desert in relation to Los Angeles and Orange counties, according to a company release.
The company either owned or was invested in 128.2 million square feet of industrial space in 40 markets worldwide, including 20.2 million square feet in the greater Los Angeles market, as of March 31, according to the release.
Those Los Angeles properties are about 95% occupied. AMB Property Corp.'s Inland region developments includes a 1.3 million- square- foot warehouse- distribution center in Redlands, Snyder said.
Copyright (c) 2007, The Business Press, Ontario, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
