IRVINE, CA—Securing project approvals, assessing inherent project challenges early and leveraging advantages are key when redeveloping old or outdated industrial properties for modern use, Premier Design + Build Group's VP, Southwest Division, Steven Gabbert tells GlobeSt.com.
The locally based firm recently completed the construction of a 421,478-square-foot industrial facility in the City of Industry on behalf of Bridge Development Partners LLC. In order for the project to be constructed, an existing 260,000-square-foot warehouse had to be demolished, and existing power poles had to be relocated. Much of the material from the demolished building was recycled by crushing, mixing and reusing with earthwork to create a balanced site.
The new building is housed on 19.9 acres of land and was constructed with tilt-up concrete wall panels, structural steel, a steel-truss roof structure, glass curtain walls and canopies at entryways. Also featured are 460 parking spaces for employees, 36-foot clear-height warehouse space, 65 manual-lift overhead dock doors and four drive-in doors.
We spoke with Gabbert about the issues that need to be addressed when renovating obsolete industrial spaces and how to streamline this development to help alleviate the extremely tight vacancy rate in Southern California.
GlobeSt.com: What legal, zoning and environmental issues need to be addressed when renovating old or obsolete industrial properties for modern use?
Gabbert: Redeveloping existing sites under today's regulations requires a proven team that can handle securing the necessary project approvals and assessing the inherent project challenges early while leveraging advantages and ultimately leading the effort to create opportunities for redevelopments.
GlobeSt.com: What are some of the biggest design concerns when redeveloping these properties, particularly if the land used will be larger than the existing property?
Gabbert: Redevelopments are all unique, although we often encounter challenges related to environmental, including site contamination and remediation, phased construction around existing tenant operations and physical and infrastructure site constraints. When confronted with an issue, our natural instinct as a design + build firm is to immediately gather our team—consisting of the designers, subcontractors and other pertinent consultants—to discuss the problem and formulate the most pragmatic and cost-effective solution to present to our client.
GlobeSt.com: With the industrial vacancy rate being so low in Southern California, how can the development process be streamlined for faster delivery?
Gabbert: Speed to market is critically important to our clients. Entitlements and permitting are running incredibly slow right now and represent a good deal of the development risk. Finding sites that do not have to be entitled or have already started their entitlements is certainly ideal. We work closely with our clients during due diligence to develop realistic schedules so their proformas can be developed accurately from the beginning. We see speed to market value in our design-build delivery since it allows us to get involved very early in the site-selection process, and we drive the permitting process while limiting risk for the developer.
GlobeSt.com: What else should our readers know about this type of project?
Gabbert: Industrial development is a very hot market right now. Developers must choose their teams wisely and ensure they have the bandwidth to deliver the results they expect.
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Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
