Tech Development Targets Smaller R&D; Companies

Construction has been completed on the first 12-building, 132,000-square-foot phase of the $25-million Torrance Technology Center, according to developers Blackmore-Davidson Properties of Torrance.

The project, within the 46-acre American Standard Business Park near the intersection of Crenshaw and Del Amo boulevards, is designed to meet the needs of smaller research and development firms--those that require individual identity, according to Allen J. Blackmore of Blackmore-Davidson.

The buildings range in size from 6,833 to 18,162 square feet and are designed by Kowalski-Harding & Associates Inc., Carson, in a contemporary style in a campus-like arrangement. The buildings have two-story front areas, sloping down to one-story areas in the rear.

Construction of the nine-building, 135,000-square-foot second phase is scheduled to begin next spring, Blackmore said. The development is on Amapola Avenue and 208th Street.

“A typical R&D; building is 100,000 square feet in size, perfect for a large computer or aerospace firm, but too big for small or medium-sized firms that would become lost in a large building,” Blackmore added.