Tejon Ranch to Develop Business Park
After years of being used primarily for pasture and agricultural land, the 270,000-acre Tejon Ranch north of Los Angeles is preparing for its first big commercial development. Landowner Tejon Ranch Co. said Tuesday that it will develop a 350-acre business park, tentatively dubbed Tejon Industrial Complex, near the interchange of Interstate 5 and Highway 99 in Kern County.
To jump-start development there, the company donated 51 acres of land to its first tenant, Petrol Travel Plaza, a center that will include truck-fueling and repair stops, a restaurant, a fast-food court and entertainment facilities.
“We think it will be a stimulus for other users to locate in the area,” said Robert A. Stine, Tejon president.
Already, Stine said, retailers including Sears, Roebuck & Co.; Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Gap Inc. have set up warehousing operations in other parts of the Central Valley to supply markets in Northern California and Oregon.
El Paso-based Petrol is paying about $20 million to construct the buildings and add preliminary infrastructure improvements such as water and sewer lines and freeway ramps. The development is part of a push Tejon is making to squeeze more money out of its huge land holdings, which are located 60 minutes north of Los Angeles along Interstate 5.
The auto plaza, which will employ nearly 200 people, is expected to break ground early next year and open in late 1998. Tejon said it will begin marketing the park to corporate users sometime early next year.
