Buyers Line Up for $13M-Plus Project

CHINO HILLS, CA-Small business owners have signed commitments for 18 of the 22 industrial condominium units at the $13.5-million Fairfield Ranch Business Center, a project of Los Angeles-based IDS Real Estate Group. The IDS development, weeks away from completion, is one of the first industrial parks to be built in Chino Hills and occupies a nine-acre parcel at the intersection of Fairfield Ranch Road and Central Avenue. IDS is developing the site in partnership with Xebec of Los Angeles. The business park represents the first phase of an approximately 20-acre master planned development that also includes an ARCO gas station, a mini mart and a Denny's Restaurant already in operation. Maz Shauk, director of marketing for IDS, reports that the 18 committed condominium units range from 4,000 sf to 5,000 sf. The units are in escrow with a variety of buyers at prices ranging from $600,000 to $700,000. The sales cannot close until the buildings are completed, Shauk notes. Lining up commitments on the 18 units surpasses the target of 50% pre-sales that IDS established for Fairfield Ranch, according to Shauk. He cites "intense interest in ownership" and favorable Small Business Administration financing, provided by Wells Fargo Bank and other lenders, as factors in the high rate of pre-sales. With down payments of 10% and 25-year loans at very competitive interest rates buying one of the industrial condominiums is "like buying a house today," Shauk says. He explains that many small business owners who live in the Chino Hills area have previously had to establish their offices long distances away, but the Fairfield Ranch location allows them to locate their businesses close to their homes. A buyer who plans to build a Holiday Inn Express hotel has acquired two acres of additional land at Fairfield Ranch Business Center, and an owner/user is in escrow on a 5.9-acre parcel to construct an office building at the site. The industrial condominiums are being designed by GAA Architects of Irvine and being built by Kendrick Construction Co. of Commerce. The concrete tilt-up buildings come with extensive landscaping and exterior lighting, with a business park association that will oversee management and maintenance of common areas. Key building features include approximately 1,000 sf of office space per unit, coffee bars, fully sprinklered offices and warehouses, 16-foot minimum warehouse clearance, upgraded power, 2.6 parking stalls 1,000 sf of building area and other features. The listing agents for the project are Mike Daley and John Trapani of the Ontario office of Colliers Seeley International.