$115 Million Project Responds to Booming Port Trade Activity; 4.3 Percent Area Vacancy Cited.

Business & Real Estate Editors

SAN PEDRO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 24, 2000

Responding to trade activity at the adjacent ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach that is growing by 15 percent annually, and area industrial space vacancies of less than 5 percent, Overton, Moore & Associates Inc. (OMA) of Los Angeles and Pacific Coast Capital Partners (PCCP) of Los Angeles broke ground today in San Pedro for the $115 million Port Los Angeles Distribution Center.

Termed the largest private project ever undertaken in the Port of Los Angeles area, the new distribution center is also the largest industrial development currently under way in the South Bay. Port Los Angeles Distribution Center will ultimately provide 1.8 million square feet of space.

Situated on 81 acres of land, Port Los Angeles Distribution Center is strategically located adjacent to the Harbor Freeway (110) immediately across from the Port of Los Angeles. The project is readily accessible from the Channel Street exit of the 110 at Gaffey Street and Westmont Drive.

To be built in phases, Port Los Angeles Distribution Center will comprise two buildings totaling nearly 550,000 square feet in phase one. Phase two is earmarked for an additional 1.2 million square feet, said Stan Moore, president of OMA, project developer.

"This dynamic new industrial center, adjacent to the Port of Los Angeles, will provide needed warehousing and distribution facilities, generate over 2,000 new employment opportunities, and spur new commerce in support of the Port of Los Angeles," said Moore.

"The coupling of ongoing port growth and the area's shortage of industrial space makes the business park vital in helping the Port of Los Angeles maintain its competitive position as an engine of economic growth for the entire region."

Moore added that the new project solved major challenges, including satisfying community, environmental and port concerns. For example, the developers are realigning Westmont Drive with Gaffey Street to create a signalized intersection at the new business park.

By creating the new public street extension of Westmont Drive, the project will provide pedestrian and vehicular access to the abutting Bureau of Sanitation property proposed to be developed as "Field of Dreams," a community recreational facility including soccer and baseball fields.

The developers, working with Los Angeles City Councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr., have created a public/private partnership that will provide more than $1 million in street and utility access improvements for "Field of Dreams."

The new development transforms a former petroleum-tank facility into a vibrant light-industrial warehouse and distribution center, and was supported by Councilman Svorinich, whose 15th District encompasses the project.

Nicholas Colonna, partner, Pacific Coast Capital Partners, commented: "Port Los Angeles Distribution Center is distinctive because it represents the redevelopment of a substantial, high- visibility site near the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

"It also fills a major void in the industrial building space inventory in what is arguably the prime economic area of the South Bay in terms of commercial impact on Greater Los Angeles. Our development team gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Councilman Svorinich and his staff."

The industrial center, with its close proximity to the nation's busiest port complex, will have a special appeal to logistics-oriented consumer-product and retail businesses that move product in and out on a rapid basis, according to Tres Reid, first vice president in the South Bay office of CB Richard Ellis.

Reid and Ken Carey, also a first vice president of CB Richard Ellis, are exclusive marketing agents for the new industrial center. Reid noted that building space in Port Los Angeles Distribution Center is earmarked for users requiring 200,000 square feet or more, and that "the interest level is extremely high" at ground-breaking.

Designed by Hill Pinckert Architects of Irvine, Calif., and being built by Oltmans Construction Co. of Whittier, Calif., Port Los Angeles Distribution Center will comprise a 341,000-square-foot and a 207,000-square-foot building in phase one. Construction financing is being provided by Wells Fargo Bank.

The concrete tilt-up structures will feature 30-foot interior clearance, ESFR (Early Suppression Fast Response) sprinkler systems, minimum 135-foot truck turning radius, the capacity to store trailers, dock high loading, one door per 5,000 feet of building area, and ample parking. Occupancy is scheduled for the fourth quarter.

In business for more than 25 years, Overton, Moore & Associates is an industrial and office park developer that has created more than 20 million square feet of space throughout the five-county Los Angeles Basin. The firm also manages approximately 9 million square feet of space.

Pacific Coast Capital Partners was formed in 1998 in conjunction with a major New York investment bank to provide real estate capital to value-added real estate players. The company sources, originates and closes opportunities throughout the United States through its principals in Los Angeles and San Francisco.