— By Nellie Day —
Jon Pharris, co-founder and president of Newport Beach, Calif.-based CapRock Partners, is in delivery mode. The firm recently debuted Palomino Ranch Business Park and Saddle Ranch South, two new LEED Silver-certified industrial building complexes in Norco, Calif. Palomino Ranch is a three-phased, 2-million-square-foot industrial development, while Saddle Ranch South is a 374,000-square-foot three-building industrial park. Next up is Central Point III, a component of CapRock’s 5-million-square-foot, master-planned Central Point industrial development in Visalia.
WREB recently sat down with Pharris to discuss these new projects, the types of tenants/users CapRock is now targeting and why location is more important than ever.
WREB: Why was Norco the right choice for both the Saddle Ranch South and Palomino Ranch developments?
Pharris: Norco is an important location for logistics and distribution due to its position near the convergence of Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties, in addition to its seamless transportation connectivity, robust infrastructure, proximity to major ports and airports, favorable business environment and skilled workforce. These factors collectively
contribute to the city’s efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and competitiveness for facility operations, attracting businesses seeking to optimize their supply chains and expand their market reach.
Norco is highly desired by Orange County, Mid-Counties and San Gabriel Valley industrial real estate users. This is due to its location next to the SR-91/I-15 Interchange with proximity to the North Orange County submarkets of Anaheim, Brea and Fullerton, in addition to the Western Inland Empire cities of Chino Hills, Chino, Corona, Riverside, Eastvale and Ontario.
WREB: Why was it important to target local and regional manufacturing/distribution companies for these two projects?
Pharris: Both Palomino Ranch Business Park and Saddle Ranch South offer regional transportation connections and close proximity to Southern California’s substantial population, making it an ideal location for ecommerce operations, package delivery services and third-party logistics providers. This strategic positioning is particularly advantageous for corporations seeking to expand their presence within the competitive Los Angeles market, catering to the ever-growing demand for last-mile delivery services.
These sites are surrounded by a network of 24 UPS, FedEx and OnTrac hubs, as well as access to Ontario International Airport, ensuring seamless connectivity to major shipping carriers. The property is also situated within a 50-mile radius of more than 15 million residents, making it a valuable area for ecommerce goods and services. Plus, nearby communities in the San Gabriel Valley and Orange County are home to multiple population centers with substantial disposable income, further amplifying the demand for ecommerce products and solutions.
Palomino Ranch and Saddle Ranch South provide direct access to a pool of about 600 million square feet of distribution and warehousing space within the Inland Empire. CapRock provides best-in-class, Class A industrial space at a lower occupancy cost than what is available in Orange County.
WREB: What are CapRock’s goals with one of your newest projects, Central Point III in Visalia?
Pharris: Visalia is a vibrant industrial market and logistics hub providing unmatched connectivity in the heart of California’s Central Valley. In delivering CapRock Central Point III, our goal is to provide distribution solutions for Fortune 500 tenants looking to distribute in the Western U.S. Designed and positioned for optimum efficiency, Central Point III will allow future tenants to reach more than 50 million customers with one-day ground shipping. It is one of the only locations in the U.S. that will offer such a high level of accessibility to as large of a population base within this timeframe.
In the initial phase, CapRock entitled a distribution center and sold the land to UPS, which anchored the master-planned development with a major distribution and fulfillment center. Subsequently, CapRock developed two 1-million-square-foot distribution centers for an ecommerce company that further validated this location as a pre-eminent ecommerce hub and strategic distribution center serving all of California.
CapRock’s objective with Central Point III aligns with the success our team previously achieved in the initial phases of the Central Point masterplan based on the global occupiers that have previously chosen this location.