Spirit Properties Breaking Ground for Business Park

Santa Clarita developer Spirit Properties has broken ground for about 120,000 square feet of buildings in the first phase of a planned 3-million-square-foot, $156-million industrial project.

Called Centre Pointe Business Park, the 240-acre development in Santa Clarita is bounded by Soledad Canyon, Redview Drive and Ruether Avenue.

Plans call for the 3 million square feet to be developed over the next three years, said Larry Rasmussen, president of Spirit, the property’s owner.

The initial phase of the business park will feature three buildings of 48,000, 37,500 and 33,000 square feet, said James S. Backer, a principal at Valencia-based Fairway Commercial, which is developing the property for Rasmussen. The 48,000-square-foot building will be divided into “incubator” spaces of 2,000 to 10,000 square feet, Backer said.

Rasmussen and Backer both said prospective occupants have shown interest in the buildings despite the slight slowing in sales and leasing of industrial buildings in Los Angeles County this year. Even with the slowing, industrial vacancy rates remain relatively low in most markets, according to research reports by commercial real estate companies.

“Developers are more cautious now, and lenders are more stringent on loan terms, but the overall market is still very healthy and we have a lot of interest in our buildings,” Backer said.

Backer sees ample demand now and in the future for industrial buildings the size Spirit is developing. They are aimed at small and mid-size manufacturers and service companies, including firms that want to own their own buildings. He estimated that about 500,000 square feet of the project will be under construction or completed within 12 months.

Centre Pointe Business Park is being designed by architects Jim Combs of Newhall-based Combs-Miguel and Vince Dyer of Chatsworth. The general contractor is EPI of Van Nuys. The project is being marketed by Jim Linn and Nigel Stout of Grubb & Ellis Co.