TORRANCE, CA-AMB Property Corp. has launched a new development targeting office, R&D and industrial owner-users at its new AMB Torrance Matrix, a joint venture with Sheridan Ebbert Real Estate of Sylmar. The 24-building business park is being built on a nine-acre site at the southeast corner of Columbia and Maple streets near the Torrance Civic Center.

The development will consist of freestanding structures ranging from 5,900 sf to 8,300 sf, for a total project of 161,785 sf, according to Henry Skornik, project manager in the Thousand Oaks office of Whittier-based Oltmans Construction Co. Oltmans is the general contractor for the project, which is scheduled to be completed in phases, with the final phase scheduled for a May 2007 completion.

Although quite a few developers have completed projects offering small buildings for sale in recent years, the product type remains in strong demand in many areas like Torrance, says Scott Sheridan, principal of Sheridan Ebbert. "The South Bay has had very few of these projects due to the shortage of land," Sheridan explains.

A team from the South Bay office of Grubb & Ellis is marketing the development for AMB and Sheridan Ebbert, offering the buildings for sale only. According to Jim Biondi, one of the Grubb & Ellis team members, the project has been designed with a parking ratio of 2.7 to four cars per 1,000 sf of space in order to provide the extra parking that office and R&D users typically require.

Other members of the Grubb & Ellis team include Terry Reitz, Jeff Smart, Gerald Kim and Rob Lederstedt. AMB Torrance Matrix is being designed by HPA Inc. of Irvine.