Developer to Break Ground at Port L.A. Site This Week

Developer Overton, Moore & Associates Inc. and Pacific Coast Capital Partners, both of Los Angeles, will break ground Thursday on an 81-acre, $115-million development of industrial buildings called Port Los Angeles Distribution Center in San Pedro, the companies said.

The project, at Gaffey Street and Westmont Drive across from the Port of Los Angeles, will provide 1.8 million square feet of space geared toward “logistics-oriented consumer products and retail businesses,” according to the companies’ announcement.

Thursday’s groundbreaking will be for the two-building, 550,000-square-foot first phase of the development, said Stan Moore, president of Overton Moore.

The buildings, 341,000 square feet and 207,000 square feet, will provide much-needed warehouse and distribution facilities in the port area, Moore said. The first-phase buildings are slated to be completed by the end of the year, with construction of the second phase tentatively slated to be completed a year to 18 months later.

The port area is part of the South Bay industrial market, where brokers say steadily rising demand that is a result of the region’s robust economy has made industrial space a precious commodity.

The vacancy rate for industrial space is at a 15-year low of 4.3%, according to figures from CB Richard Ellis, which is marketing the project for the developers. Brokers say the vacancy rate is the result of strong demand combined with relatively little new construction because not much land is available in the South Bay.

The new development will occupy the site of a former petroleum tank facility and will create 2,000 jobs when all 1.8 million square feet are completed, the developers said.

Designed by Hill Pinckert Architects of Irvine, the project will be built by Oltmans Construction Co. of Whittier, with construction financing by Wells Fargo Bank.