News Article | 8/6/2007

Hillwood Outlines Inland Expansion

SAN BERNARDINO, CA-Texas-based Hillwood plans to complete 12 new industrial buildings totaling 5.7 million sf at four different developments in the Inland Empire by the end of 2008, including new construction at its Alliance California project. After several years of acquiring property throughout the Inland Empire to complement the Alliance California project, Hillwood is under way on “its most aggressive building program yet in the region,” according to John Magness, senior vice president of Hillwood Investment Properties.

In addition to Alliance California, the developments include InterChange Business Park, North San Bernardino Industrial Park and and Hofer Ranch at Ontario Airport. Ten of the buildings totaling more than 4.3 million sf are under construction, including build-to-suits with long term leases recently signed with FedEx and Michelin.

Magness comments that, with the completion of the Interstate 210 extension and increased imports from Asia arriving at the Southern California ports, now is a good time to add space in the Inland Empire. Hillwood has close to 1,000 developable acres in Southern California and is aggressively seeking other land opportunities in the area, he adds.

The new buildings planned for Alliance California are called the Gateway South Building 1 and Building 2. Building 1 will be 969,456 sf and building 2 will be 480,340 sf. Both are under construction on the south side of Central Avenue, just west of Tippecanoe Avenue in San Bernardino.

The 801,581-sf build-to-suit for Michelin is part of six buildings totaling more than two million sf that are under construction at InterChange Business Park. The other five buildings range in size from 94,108 sf to 448,108 sf. The 144-acre InterChange project is located along the west side of Interstate 215 approximately two miles north of the new interchange with Interstate 210 in San Bernardino.

Three buildings are planned for the 125-acre North San Bernardino Business Park, which is located just south of the Interstate 15/215 interchange. The 184,641-sf build-to-suit for FedEx is currently under construction, with speculative buildings of 672,958 sf and 730,000 sf slated to be built in 2008.

The 137-acre Hofer Ranch is adjacent to the south side of Ontario International Airport between the UPS and FedEx air cargo hubs. The first building, a 644,856-sfdistribution center, is under construction.

Hillwood began developing in the Inland Empire in 2000, when it was named master developer of the former Norton Air Force Base. Since then, the total of space either built or under construction has reached 6.4 million sf.