TEJON: 'PATH OF PROGRESS, GROWTH.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Real Deals

TEJON RANCH - The players are now in place and the contracts have been signed. The project doesn't have a catchy name yet, though, and details like the exact size still have to be worked out.

But boy, is it going to be big.

And it is the direction that residential growth in Los Angeles County will be taking over the next decade.

That will be north, along Interstate 5 toward Bakersfield.

When Tejon Ranch Co. and its partners, three residential developers, start turning dirt on the 4,000-acre project the city will have finally pushed into some of the last wild land on the northern fringes of Los Angeles County.

Tejon last week inked a development deal with Pardee Construction Co., Lewis Investment Company LLC and Standard Pacific Corp., three of the nation's biggest developers.

This partnership will design and develop a master-planned community near Interstate 5, State Highway 138, and Quail Lake.

Preliminary estimates put the number of housing units at 7,000.

Founded in 1843, Tejon Ranch has diversified interests and huge holdings. It owns 270,000 acres in Los Angeles and Kern counties and specializes in real estate, livestock, farming and natural resource management.

The company will develop its land along transportation corridors into master-planned business and residential communities.

Doug Ford, the company's senior vice president, said it is too early in the development process to provide anything other than a rough estimate of its size and shape.

``It depends on the terrain, the land itself and a lot of other factors,'' he said. ``But it will be a balanced community with schools, shopping centers, parks and open space.''

The planning, design and environmental work will start this year, and it will take several years to get it through the various permitting agencies.

Dale Casey, vice president of development planning for Standard Pacific Corp., said his company is excited about the development's prospects. Standard's portion of it will be managed by the company's Westlake Village-based unit.

``It's the path of progress and growth. Valencia has just taken off tremendously and five or 10 years down the road the Tejon area will be the beginning of another Valencia,'' he said.

Two things he likes are the area's topography and climate.

``There are some very beautiful plateaus and rolling hills that abut the forests out there,'' Casey said.

The development is going to make a dent, albeit a small one, in the region's housing crunch, although by the time homes are actually released for sale the region's population will be even bigger.

Typically, new homes account for about 20 percent of all home sales, but today the percentage is about 15 percent.

``There just aren't enough newly built homes on the market,'' said John Karevoll, an analyst at Acxiom/DataQuick, a La Jolla-based real estate market research firm. ``There is a screaming need in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. They all have an undersupply of new homes.''

Tejon is also involved on the commercial and industrial side.

The company is currently developing Phase I of its Tejon Industrial Complex of 3.5 million square feet on 350 acres.

It is the company's vision of a planned commercial, industrial and residential development along 16 miles of I-5 Freeway frontage in Kern County just north of the Los Angeles Basin.

It is designed to be a major center for distribution, warehousing and manufacturing with direct access to Los Angeles, Northern California and the Central Valley.

BROKER BUZZ

--JIJ Design Inc., a designer and importer of home furnishings, has bought a 40,000-square-foot industrial building in Sylmar for $2.2 million.

The new building, on 1.5 acres at 1288 Bradley Ave., doubles the company's plant capacity.

JIJ Design, a privately held company, was formed in 1984 and employs 25 people. The company distributes everything from small porcelain vases to giant sculptures and candelabra.

Ross Thomas, a partner in Van Nuys-based Delphi Business Properties, represented the company in the transaction.

--Calabasas-based Countrywide Credit Industries Inc. funded $3.7 billion in loans during February and the pipeline of loans in process totaled $8.5 billion at month's end.

Meanwhile, the company's servicing portfolio increased to $250 billion last month, 16 percent higher than a year ago.

CAPTION(S):

map

Map: Proposed Tejon Ranch 4,000-acre community