Corona, With Industry Influx, Favors Growth Riverside County City Bucks Recent Trend of Communities Seeking Slower Growth
There must be a time warp hanging over the city of Corona in Riverside County: In an era of slow-growth sentiments, the city of 52,000 is actively seeking residential, industrial and commercial developers.
Development investment in the city near where Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties meet totaled $433 million last year, up 46% from the $296 million permit valuation of 1987, according to George Guayante, head of the city’s economic development program.
“While many other cities are wrapped up in slow-growth movements, Corona is actively seeking new companies to invest in the community,” he said. “We want industrial and commercial development, of course, but--with Corona’s population expected to grow to 80,000 by the end of the century, plans are under way to build about 12,000 new houses and several new apartment complexes.”
Guayante said that much of the $137-million increase in building valuations can be attributed to Corona’s aggressive efforts to bring new retail and industrial business to the Inland Empire community.
Buildable Land
The emphasis on the retail and industrial sectors is understandable: About 2,800 acres, almost 75% of Corona’s inventory of buildable land, is zoned for industrial use, he said.
Developers invested an estimated $37 million to build nearly 2.3 million square feet of space for manufacturing and distribution centers and warehouses.
Among the firms that decided to capitalize on Corona’s affordable land prices and strategic industrial location on the Riverside (91) Freeway and Corona (71) Expressway, midway between downtown Riverside and northern Orange County was King Bearing Inc.
The power transmission products distribution concern chose Corona as the site of its more than 200,000-square-foot warehouse and office complex to consolidate its six California facilities.
Industrial Companies
Bergen Brunswig Corp., an Orange-based pharmaceutical concern, has just announced plans to close warehouses in Anaheim and Buena Park and move next year to a 231,000-square-foot facility in Corona. About 125 employees will be transferred, a company spokesman said.
Another company that will move to Corona is Marshall Aluminum Products Inc., a well-known Southland manufacturer of aluminum windows, patio doors and mirrors. The firm’s 85,000-square-foot factory is expected to be ready next month in the Corona Spectrum, a 92-acre complex.
Other major industrial projects under way include the 78-acre Pacesetter Business Center, the 70-acre International Business Park and the 56-acre Parkview Business Center.
Commercial activity in 1988 added up to a $22-million investment that produced 2.4 million square feet of commercial space. This investment paid off, Guayante said, with overall per capita sales at least 36% higher in Corona compared to other Riverside County cities and the state as a whole, he added.
Among the new entries in Corona’s retail lineup are a 105,000-square-foot Price Club store in Corona Hills Plaza; a new Crevier Motors Hyundai dealership in the 27-acre Corona Auto Mall and the relocation of the Roger Diller Chevrolet Corona dealership to the same auto mall.
Additional sales tax revenue will be returned to the city from tenants in seven new planned retail centers, including the 500,000-square-foot Corona Hills Plaza; the 145,000-square-foot Corona West Center and five neighborhood centers ranging in size from 100,000 to 200,000 square feet.
Among the builders developing residential projects--largely in southern or eastern parts of the city are: Presley of Southern California, Promenade, in the eastern part of the city next to Riverside; Buie Corp., Corona Ranch, with single-family, attached, townhouses, condominiums and estate lots; W.S.L.A., Sierra Del Oro, single-family, attached, condominiums and estates and Foothill Ranch, South Corona, single-family and attached units.
