Robinson: I don't know. I think this one will be received well. One tenant wanted to stay in the area and needed 80,000 square feet, but there was no place to go, so they bought land next to one of our projects in Carlsbad. If our project was ready, they would have moved in. There is demand, but I don't know how deep it is.

GlobeSt.com: What other San Diego submarkets are ripe for this type of development?

Robinson: We're doing a majority of it in Carlsbad because that's where a lot of tech people are, but if we could find land in Sorrento, portions of Miramar or Kearny Mesa, we would do it. Finding land at a price that allows us to build creative industrial is difficult because these projects are more expensive than traditional industrial; you need a large parcel because you must be able to build the projects over a larger scale to spread costs over a larger square footage.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about the planned creative-industrial campus in San Marcos?

Robinson: Our goal is to build a certain type of product, and that's why we trademarked ground-up creative industrial—that makes it easier for tenants and owners of buildings to keep employees. The work environment is very important, so we're trying to create the best building that creates the best work environment in the building and in the outdoor area. This is a different approach for industrial. Some multifamily and office properties are using that approach, but now we're putting it into the industrial market so people occupying that market will have very good experience.

SAN MARCOS, CA—Finding land at a price that will allow capital-intense ground-up creative-industrial projects to pencil generally requires locating larger parcels where costs can be spread out over a sizable square footage, RAF Pacifica Group principal Adam Robinson tells GlobeSt.com. As we recently reported, on the heels of its recent development activity in the Carlsbad submarket of San Diego, the firm has acquired 15.65 acres of land here on which it plans to build a four-building, creative-industrial campus totaling 212,000 square feet. Robinson said this would be RAF Pacifica's first ground-up spec industrial development in San Marcos. We spoke exclusively with Robinson about the industrial market in San Marcos, whether there's room for more ground-up creative industrial in this market and other San Diego submarkets that are ripe for this type of development.

GlobeSt.com: How would you characterize the industrial market in San Marcos?

Robinson: Historically, San Marcos really hasn't been an institutional market, but it has been a very strong industrial market. It's not master-planned like Carlsbad or portions of Oceanside, but the college market is growing, and there are new apartments around [California State University San Marcos], which is bringing more Carlsbad-ish-type tenants into that market. The majority of our buildings are in Carlsbad, but we found a piece of land in San Marcos that would be perfect for what we want to do. We own other properties in San Marcos that are doing well, and they recently built a new high school there. We are really excited about this project; there are not a lot of large land parcels left in San Marcos, and this one will be good one for us.

GlobeSt.com: Is there room for more ground-up creative industrial in this market?

Robinson: I don't know. I think this one will be received well. One tenant wanted to stay in the area and needed 80,000 square feet, but there was no place to go, so they bought land next to one of our projects in Carlsbad. If our project was ready, they would have moved in. There is demand, but I don't know how deep it is.

GlobeSt.com: What other San Diego submarkets are ripe for this type of development?

Robinson: We're doing a majority of it in Carlsbad because that's where a lot of tech people are, but if we could find land in Sorrento, portions of Miramar or Kearny Mesa, we would do it. Finding land at a price that allows us to build creative industrial is difficult because these projects are more expensive than traditional industrial; you need a large parcel because you must be able to build the projects over a larger scale to spread costs over a larger square footage.

GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about the planned creative-industrial campus in San Marcos?

Robinson: Our goal is to build a certain type of product, and that's why we trademarked ground-up creative industrial—that makes it easier for tenants and owners of buildings to keep employees. The work environment is very important, so we're trying to create the best building that creates the best work environment in the building and in the outdoor area. This is a different approach for industrial. Some multifamily and office properties are using that approach, but now we're putting it into the industrial market so people occupying that market will have very good experience.