Northfield Is First Project in Oxnard District
Ground will be broken during the first week in June on the $150-million Northfield Business Park, first project in the 1,650-acre Northeast Industrial District in Oxnard.
The development is expected to give significant impetus to the community’s transition from an agricultural-based economy to one of diversification.
The park, located along a one-mile stretch of East 5th Street, south of the Ventura Freeway between Rice and Rose avenues, is a joint venture of S. H. Bulmer & Associates of Sherman Oaks and Dallas-based Lomas & Nettleton, a division of Lomas & Nettleton Financial Group.
First phase of the cornerstone development will consist of five to seven buildings ranging in size from 10,000 to 15,000 square feet. Final build-out is expected to total 3 million square feet.
According to Monte Risvold, of the Grubb & Ellis Ventura brokerage office and the project’s exclusive broker, the entire business park development will include construction of between 25 million and 30 million square feet over the next 15 years, making it the largest industrial development in the Tri-County region.
Northfield Business Park will offer improved sites for sale or lease, build-to-suit structures and speculative buildings for sale or lease, Risvold said.
Complete construction and architectural services are available, and S. H. Bulmer & Associates will serve as the project’s general contractor on its initial speculative buildings.
Already under construction, another addition to Oxnard’s commercial scene, is the $200-million Plaza del Norte, north of Ventura Boulevard, between Santa Clara and Rose avenues.
The 165-acre development consists of two separate projects being built by two different companies. McLachlan Investment Co. of Oxnard will build 1.25 million square feet of retail shops, offices, restaurants and light-industrial buildings on 93 acres, and is the only commercial center geared specifically for the high volume promotional stores such as the Price Club and Sportmart.
A 72-acre Oxnard Auto Center at the plaza is being developed by Continental Heritage Corp. of Los Angeles and Oxnard, and will be the only master-planned auto center in Ventura County, housing up to 12 automobile dealerships.
A $15-million sales tax agreement has been arranged with the city of Oxnard to assist the developer of the auto center. The auto center is expected to generate more than $2 million a year in sales tax revenues for the city and the project should create 3,000 jobs.
Designated as a GTE “Smart Park,” the Plaza del Norte will be one of the first centers in the nation to incorporate a system of copper and fiber optic cabling for advanced telecommunications developed by General Telephone of California.
The architectural plans for the center have been done by McClellan Cruz Gaylord Associates, Irvine; Walker-Rancourt Architects, Escondido; Mainstreet Architects & Planners, Ventura; Ware Malcomb Architects, Irvine, and Pacific Coast Land Design, Ventura.
The first buildings at Plaza del Norte are scheduled for completion in the fall as part of a three-to-five-year program.
