Industrial Park Will Rise on Old Airport Property
Nearly three years of speculation on how the old San Fernando Airport property will be developed ended Thursday with the developer’s announcement that construction of a $40-million industrial park will begin next month.
It is estimated that the project will bring up to 2,000 new jobs to the area and turn the former airstrip into one of the biggest business centers in the northeast San Fernando Valley.
It will include about 700,000 square feet of light manufacturing and office space spread over eight or nine buildings and parking for up to 1,500 cars, said the project’s developer, Stanley Moore, of Carson-based Overton, Moore & Associates.
The five-member San Fernando City Council had previously approved a zoning change on the land to allow for such an industrial development. Final council approval of the project is expected early next month, said City Administrator Donald E. Penman.
“The city is very desirous of having a project of this sort developed,” Penman said. “There may be some minor changes to the plan, but we don’t anticipate any problems.”
Moore said his firm purchased the 33-acre parcel for $11 million from Lucky Stores Inc.
The industrial park will be developed next to a shopping center to be built soon. The former airport land, to be used for both projects, is at Foothill Boulevard and Arroyo Avenue and was the last large, vacant piece of property in the city of San Fernando,
Penman said the landscaping and buildings in the industrial center will complement the shopping center.
Accessible to Freeway
Since the San Fernando Airport was closed in 1984 and the land put up for sale, the site’s accessibility to freeways has made it a prime location for distribution and manufacturing firms.
But the city was determined to see part of the site developed into a revenue-generating retail center, despite claims from real estate brokers that the location would not be attractive enough for retail interests.
On its own, the City Council initiated a two-year search to find a shopping center developer and changed the zoning on part of the land along busy Foothill Boulevard for commercial use.
Final approval was given last December to Manhattan Beach-based Alexander Haagen Development Co. to build a retail center that will include two discount warehouse stores, the Pace Club and Home Depot, along with 35,000 square feet of smaller shops.
The center is expected to yield a half-million dollars in sales taxes annually, which would increase the small city’s sales-tax revenues by 30%.
“By holding out for what we thought was best for the city, we came out ahead with both a retail and industrial center,” Penman said.
