Tower Spurs Business Goal of West Covina : High-rise completion seen as major step to draw firms to eastern San Gabriel Valley.
West Covina wants to become to the eastern end of the San Gabriel Valley what Pasadena is to the western end: the major business center. The completion of the 13-story Eastland Tower brings West Covina’s dream a step closer to reality.
Valued at more than $40-million, the 13-story office building at 100 N. Barranca St., just north of the San Bernardino (10) Freeway, was designed to attract the kind of tenants that would normally go 20 miles west to downtown Los Angeles, according to Ziad Alhassen, president of Hassen Development Co., the developer.
“We offer the amenities of a Class A building at half the rental rates of downtown or Century City ($1.35 per square foot per month compared to $2.50 and up) along with 700 free parking spaces on four underground levels,” Alhassen said.
Completion of the 232,000-square-foot Eastland Tower brings the total office space in the city of 95,000 to about 912,000 square feet--well below the inventory of 6 million square feet in Pasadena--and marks the culmination of a five-year program to establish West Covina as the business center of the eastern San Gabriel Valley, according to Mayor Robert L. Bacon.
“This building promises jobs for our residents, revenue to our city far in excess of the assistance given the developer and it sets the level of quality we will expect for all future developments,” he added.
Alhassen said that the tower is about 40% leased, with major tenants including Southwestern Portland Cement, Computer Entry Systems, Moore Business Forms, the Foothill Transit Zone, Perry Maloff Professional Corp. and Hassen Development.
One reason for the Southwestern Portland Cement move from mid-Wilshire was to be closer to its employees: About 80% of them live in eastern Los Angeles County or western San Bernardino County.
Among them are Michele Wittig, a Mira Loma resident who has cut her commuting time from two hours or more to about 40 minutes, and Josie Calvero of Diamond Bar, who has reduced her driving time from 90 minutes to less than 15 minutes.
Designed by Langdon Wilson Mumper, Los Angeles, the stair-stepped granite-and-reflective-glass-clad building is the tallest building in the eastern San Gabriel Valley. It is an “intelligent” office building, with computers controlling heating, air conditioning, ventilation, telecommunications and security, according to Asad Kahn of Langdon Wilson Mumper.
The building is in the Eastland Redevelopment Area, formed in 1975 with 130 acres adjacent to and including the 32-year-old Eastland Shopping Center, according to Chester Yoshizaki, West Covina’s redevelopment manager.
“Over the next five to seven years, we expect to see construction of an additional 600,000 square feet of office space in West Covina in the Eastland Redevelopment Area and in the Central Business District redevelopment area,” Yoshizaki said. The 560-acre CBD area was established in 1971, centering on Vincent Avenue and the freeway, including the West Covina Fashion Plaza and the Civic Center, he said.
