SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – As part of the grand opening today of the 144-acre InterChange Business Center, Mike Daley Drive will be dedicated in honor of the former Colliers International broker who passed away in 2006. Six buildings totaling more than 2 million square feet, including an 801,581 square-foot build-to-suit for Michelin, have been completed at InterChange Business Center, which is located along the west side of Interstate 215 approximately 2 miles north of the new interchange with Interstate 210 in San Bernardino, Calif.
Daley, who is survived by his wife and three children, represented the development, as well as other Hillwood projects in the Inland Empire. He spent 28 years as a commercial real estate broker, primarily working in the San Bernardino area.
“Mike Daley was an integral part of Hillwood’s success in San Bernardino and success with the InterChange Business Center project,” said John Magness, senior vice president of Hillwood Investment Properties. “The naming of a road in his honor is an outward sign of our company’s appreciation and we hope a lasting tribute to his efforts in attracting businesses to San Bernardino. We hope that for decades people will enjoy coming to work on ‘Mike Daley Drive’.”
Located in the State College Redevelopment Project Area, InterChange Business Center is the result of a pubic-private partnership between the city of San Bernardino’s Economic Development Agency (EDA) and Hillwood to redevelop the property to a productive use.
“The Interchange Business Center is a significant development for our city,” said San Bernardino Mayor Patrick J. Morris. “This project is helping to create a diverse and sustainable local economy, with good paying jobs for our residents. Up to 1,400 jobs will be created at this center. That’s 1,400 more people that can work within the community in which they live. The city is committed to support and help cultivate our local economy through strategic investments, incentives and partnerships. This project demonstrates that commitment.”
“Through the team work of Hillwood and the Economic Development Agency, we have been able to transform the previously blighted Culligan site into a beautiful commercial development with more than 2 million square feet of new floor space,” said Emil Marzullo, EDA executive director. “This new development will stand as an example of what can be accomplished when both the private and public sector work in harmony to achieve a shared goal of blight elimination, job creation and attracting new businesses into our city.”
InterChange Business Center not only replaces a blighted area that is a main entrance to San Bernardino, but the five speculative buildings totaling 1.25 million square feet have been pre-certified to meet LEEDS standards for energy conservation by the United States Green Building Council. These facilities are some of the first industrial buildings in the Inland Empire to receive such status. The five buildings range in size from 94,108 square feet to 448,108 square feet.
“Developing these buildings to LEEDS standard is an important next step for Hillwood as we continue to explore new ways to make our developments and our buildings environmentally friendly,” added Magness. “Hillwood is grateful to the city of San Bernardino, especially the Development Services Department and the Economic Development Agency for their years of service in helping us accomplish the goal of bringing this once blighted land back into the community. “
The project is expected to create approximately 1,400 jobs and provide funding for extensive improvements to the much-traveled and highly congested University Parkway/I-215 Freeway Interchange. In addition the project improves the area’s public storm drain system and retention basin.
“Because the EDA helped monitor the project’s environmental site cleanup and assisted Hillwood with the additional property acquisition, InterChange Business Center will add continuing and valuable project tax increment for continued improvements to this vital and rapidly growing area in the sixth ward of our city,” said Councilman Rikke Van Johnson, Sixth Ward and redevelopment committee member.
The EDA, Hillwood and the San Bernardino Municipal Water District also worked together on a 4 million gallon water reservoir that is vital for future fire suppression capacity. “The reservoir was critical to safeguard the development and the community,” said Don Gee, EDA deputy director.
“The ground breaking of this project validates the University District as a growing destination and commerce corridor,” said San Bernardino Councilman Chas Kelley, Fifth Ward and strong proponent of quality development and quality of life. “Easy access to the Cal-State San Bernardino campus and retail components is critical to the safety and quality of life to the I-215 travelers, businesses and residents. The public works benefits of this project are tremendous!”
The InterChange Business Center site dates back to pre-World War II when Mr. Culligan developed a facility in San Bernardino for manufacturing silica gel, a critically needed de-hydrating material. After the war, zeolite production of mineral based composites used in water softening was shifted to the San Bernardino plant that later became Culligan, Inc. The site also was a military site used for the storage, packing and testing of six-pound incendiary bombs. Due to these uses, the site underwent extensive remediation in order to become a developable property.
InterChange Business Center is part of 12 industrial buildings totaling 5.7 million square feet that Hillwood will have developed between 2007 and 2008. The other buildings are located in North San Bernardino Industrial Park and AllianceCalifornia in San Bernardino, and Hofer Ranch at Ontario Airport.
The City of San Bernardino Economic Development Agency is a focused, diverse organization whose mission is to enhance the quality of life for the citizens of San Bernardino by creating and retaining jobs, eliminating physical and social blight, supporting culture and the arts, developing a balanced mix of quality housing, along with attracting and assisting businesses both independently and through public-private partnerships.
Hillwood began developing in the Inland Empire in 2000, when it was named master developer of the former Norton Air Force Base. Since that time, 6.4 million square feet have either been built and close to 3,000 new jobs have been created at what is now called AllianceCalifornia. The development has attracted facilities for global industry leading companies, including Kohl’s, Mattel, Stater Bros., Pactiv, Medline and Pep Boys.
Dallas-based Hillwood, (www.hillwood.com) a Perot company, is one of the top commercial and residential real estate developers in the country. The company’s developments currently house facilities for close to 90 companies listed on either the Fortune 500, Global 500 or Forbes List of Top Private firms. In addition to AllianceCalifornia, Hillwood is best known for its development of the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas project, located 15 miles northwest of DFW Airport, and the $420-million American Airlines Center and Victory district near downtown Dallas.
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