Business Park Adding Space

Speculative construction was a common real estate strategy during the go-go 1980s. In recent years, however, developing a major project without advance commitments from tenants or buyers has virtually disappeared due to the twin pressures of tight money and the recession.

But “spec” construction has returned to Ventura County. Last week, The Sammis Co. and its partners in Oxnard’s McInnes Ranch Business Park started work on the development’s third phase, three buildings that will total 104,000 square feet of industrial space.

Sammis, based in Irvine, which claims to be the county’s No. 1 commercial/industrial developer in terms of land holdings, hasn’t yet signed any occupants for the structures, but, in view of the 100% occupancy in the park’s first two phases, the builder is confident it’s making the right move.

“We feel that the economy will return, but there are other reasons for our going ahead with our plans,” said Martin Menne, Sammis’ marketing director.

For one thing, he said, industrial land in Ventura County is only one-third to one-half the price of comparable property in the San Fernando Valley and other parts of the Los Angeles area.

“Construction costs are about the same, but the lower land costs here result in lower prices and cheaper rents. These, we feel, will continue to attract buyers and tenants.”

In addition, Menne said, many Los Angeles area business owners would like to relocate so that they and their employees can enjoy a better quality of life, “and Ventura County is one of their few options in that regard.”

McInnes Ranch, which opened in 1990, already has seven buildings with a total of 400,000 square feet. Occupants include the U.S. Postal Service, which recently completed a new regional distribution center at the park, and wheelchair manufacturer Everest & Jennings Inc., which will maintain a distribution facility at the park after moving its main operations from Camarillo to St. Louis later this year.

Sammis and its partners at McInnes Ranch, the Copley Real Estate Advisers and Robert L. McInnes, will spend $4 million on the park’s newest phase. Construction will be financed by Wells Fargo Bank. The new venture will bring the partners’ total investment to $24 million in the 294-acre development, which lies about a mile south of the Ventura Freeway between Rice Avenue and Del Norte Boulevard.