Industrial Growth Could Mean Good News for San Bernardino

The industrial market has boomed during the pandemic throughout the country, and the activity could spell good news for some markets hit hard by the downturn. Markets like San Bernardino County are a perfect example. Modway recently announced plans to expand to Heperia, a submarket in the county, and others could be soon to follow. The activity could help to offset losses suffered during the pandemic.

“Like many regions across the country and around the world, San Bernardino County’s High Desert which includes cities such as Victorville, Hesperia, Apple Valley, Barstow and Adelanto, has been impacted by the pandemic and the subsequent restrictions on business operations. However a number of initiatives have been enacted to offset the impacts of business closures and restore job losses,” Soua Vang, interim economic development director at San Bernardino County, tells GlobeSt.com.

Through the pandemic, the County has worked to provide resources as needed to impacted businesses. “The County’s COVID Compliant Business Partnership program and Victorville’s Small Business Assistance Grant program are both providing financial support to eligible businesses. The County is also holding business webinars that help guide companies through the variety of programs and resources that are available to them,” says Vang.

Modway will occupy a 1 million-square-foot build-to-suit industrial building located on a 60-acre parcel in the 200-acre Hesperia Commerce Center One project, and it will bring 200 jobs to the area. Modway isn’t the only company interested in the High Desert. “We’ve had a lot of interest in the High Desert region from both users and developers,” says Vang. “This location is a valuable location to clients because of the freeway access and proximity to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, regional market access to 23 million people, and the ability to potentially service Las Vegas and Phoenix markets. To that end, earlier this year, Stirling Capital Investments announced the completion of three major lease transactions at Southern California Logistics Airport in Victorville with The Boeing Company, United Furniture Industries (UFI) and ComAv Asset Management.”

Vang anticipates demand will continue to gain momentum through 2021. “We see no reason tenant demand from ecommerce users will slow down,” she says. “The demand for industrial space has skyrocketed amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the need for increased inventory and tremendous growth in online sales. According to CBRE a five percent increase in business inventories requires an additional 400 million to 500 million square feet of warehouse space. Additionally, the challenges to entitling in California and limited availability of large contiguous parcels in the Los Angeles basin will continue to drive users to San Bernardino County, including the High Desert, for the foreseeable future.”