CITY SET TO HELP DEVELOPER COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION PLANNED.

Byline: Jim Skeen  Staff Writer

LANCASTER - The city of Lancaster is planning to assist a major developer who is planning to build 425,000 square feet of commercial and industrial space in the Fox Field Corridor over the next five years.

The Buzz Oates Group of Companies is planning to construct large buildings on 40 acres on the northeast corner of Avenue G and 30th Street West to attract industrial and commercial tenants. To aid the project, the city has budgeted $1.6 million toward the construction of sewer and utility lines.

In the first two years of the project, Antelope Valley Ventures LLC, a new entity set up by the Buzz Oates Group, plans to build three 59,000-square-foot buildings. The rest of the space would be built within five years.

``There are not many projects with this size product,'' said Vern Lawson Jr., Lancaster's economic development manager. ``This is an opportunity to take economic development to a whole new level.''

Buzz Oates has built more than 60 million square feet of office and warehouse space. The company, founded by Marvin ``Buzz'' Oates, sells about $100 million worth of commercial property each year.

``He is recognizing the strength of this marketplace,'' City Manager Bob LaSala said. ``This says something about the Fox Field area and the strength of the Antelope Valley for this kind of development.''

Meeting tonight at 6 p.m. as the redevelopment agency board, the City Council will consider an agreement that commits the city to providing money to help fund improvements needed for the site. That work includes the extension of sewer and gas lines and paving a portion of 30th Street West adjacent to the site.

The construction of buildings built ``on spec'' - constructed on speculation that a company will be interested, rather than tailor-made for specific tenants - is a welcome sight for economic development officials, who say the lack of industrial space has hampered efforts to draw in businesses to the Antelope Valley.

A study released in 2004 by the Greater Antelope Valley Economic Alliance showed industrial space vacancies running at 1.59 percent in the Antelope Valley, while other regions were running anywhere from 6 percent to 10 percent.

``For the first time we have something to market,'' said Mel Layne, president of the alliance.

Since the release of that report, a number of spec building projects have surfaced, including industrial projects in the Fox Field Corridor - the area between the Fox Field airport and the Antelope Valley Freeway.

Those projects include the $24 million Fox Field Business Park with 220,000 square feet of industrial space by the commercial arm of the home builder Larwin Co., and a project by West Lancaster LLC to build a complex with approximately 250,000 square feet of floor space.