News Article | 7/30/2005

SBIA will meet big call for small spaces

SAN BERNARDINO – There’s a big market for little buildings.

Hillwood, the company that brought the giant Mattel, Pep Boys and Kohl’s warehouses to San Bernardino International Airport, is now going after small businesses too.

The master developer for much of the land at the former Norton Air Force Base has set aside 10 acres for a series of small buildings that could be homes for small manufacturers, repackagers, printers, trade specialists and others.

Hillwood has plans to build about 20 small buildings ranging in size from 6,000 to 11,500 square feet.

“There’s a big demand for buildings 10,000 square feet and under,” said John Magness, a Hillwood senior vice president.

The as yet unnamed development will be at the Tippecanoe Avenue entrance to Hillwood’s AllianceCalifornia project at San Bernardino International.

The project’s first phase is likely to be completed in the summer of 2006.

“This is a big move up for a guy who has been renting 3,000 or 4,000 feet,” said Steve Palmer, a development director with Hillwood.

Typically these types of business have five to 10 employees and operate between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. They are not going to be 24-hour operations,” Palmer said.

Magness said the small-business development will be an attractive gateway to AllianceCalifornia because of its landscaping and the office-building-look of its structures.

Although there is a new small user focus, Hillwood is still pushing for really big tenants.

In mid-September Hillwood will break ground on a 900,000 square foot speculative building company officials hope will snag a user who needs a big building in a hurry.