San Bernardino County is growing faster than its Southern California coastal counterparts, paving the way for a host of new retail and housing developments. While its population increased 1.7% since 2019, it is still predicted to add another 23,000-plus to its communities by 2029.
Ryan Niesen, economic development manager for the San Bernardino County Economic Development Department, notes that in addition to an abundance of affordable housing, the area also boasts impressive job growth.
“We’ve seen substantial job growth over the past decade in our county and surrounding region,” said Niesen, citing a nearly 25% uptick – more than double the job creation of nearby Los Angeles County. According to Niesen, the county itself offers a workforce more than a million strong, coupled with a multitude of colleges, universitiesand trade schools to enhance tradable skills. Additionally, the county works with the business community to provide subsidized and reimbursable training.
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Niesen points to data from the California Homebuilding Foundation, which shows that San Bernardino County has been adding an average of 3,500 single-family homes and other residential units annually for the past several years. He says the county isn’t letting up, with key housing projects spread across the cities of Chino, Fontana and Hesperia:
- The Preserve in Chino is an in-progress planned community featuring trails and other amenities, and will offer 11,725 housing units. It will be supported by the Town Center at The Preserve, a 146,800-square-foot community retail center.
- Fontana’s ongoing construction of the planned community Summit at Rosena will have over 850 housing units. In addition, they are simultaneously developing the Forge District, a new entertainment district to help further drive economic growth.
- Hesperia is welcoming the development of Silverwood, which will feature nearly 2,100 dwelling housing units in its first of nine phases expected in the next 15 to 20 years. Overall, it will span 9,366 acres and include nearly 15,633 dwelling units.
According to Niesen, Ontario’s new Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park development is ripe for recreational partners, and they are currently in the midst of accepting proposals from qualified development entities.
“The 112-acre Park includes miles of non-motorized walking and biking trails, a swim complex, splash pad, playground, shelters, restroom facilities, and two lakes providing for fishing, pedal boating, and other water activities,” said Niesen “All of these represent possibilities available for recreational developers to propose for that site.”
County officials say that the Cucamonga-Guasti Regional Park will eventually offer high quality and innovative recreational entertainment services for both residents and tourists to complement current offerings. Niesen says that Top Golf, an anchor tenant adjacent to the new development, has already increased foot traffic dramatically while adding nearly 600,000 unique visitors. It’s further supported by the nearby Toyota Arena, Ontario Mills outlet shopping centerand hundreds of additional retailers.
“Overall, we are a robust county with 24 incorporated cities that all work diligently to attract new business, developers and affordable housing to support our expanding community,” said Niesen.
Visit San Bernardino County at ICSC Las Vegas, North Hall booth 2979K.
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