Inland Empire Logistics Hub to Span 40M SF, 2,600 Acres

A long-planned project that will create one of the world’s largest logistics hubs finally is getting underway in Moreno Valley in Southern California’s Inland Empire.

The appropriately named World Logistics Center will encompass nearly 41M SF in up to 27 buildings spread over 2,600 acres—nearly 10% of the land in Moreno Valley.

The project is so large, its designers are connecting some of the buildings with a “sky-bridge.” The development also comes with an enormous price tag: $25B.

But don’t expect a huge NIMBY battle to break out, with environmental groups leading the charge to stop this mega-hub from rising in an industrial market already packed with nearly 2B SF of warehouses.

That battle already has been fought and—Spoiler Alert—the green brigade is cool with this project.

Moreno Valley-based developer Highland Fairview is planning to break ground later this year on the mammoth industrial campus in proximity to the 60 Freeway between Redlands Boulevard and Gilman Springs Road, according to a report in the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

Located on the east side of the city, the World Logistics Center was delayed for several years by lawsuits filed by environmental groups after the Moreno Valley City Council approved the project in 2015.

The groups trying to block the warehouse mega-complex included the California Clean Energy Committee, Center for Biological Diversity, the Sierra Club, the San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society and the Coalition for Clean Air.

The lawsuits were settled in 2021 after Highland agreed to invest $47M to reduce the logistics center’s environmental impact, including investing $12 million in electric vehicles and charging stations.

Rhode Island-based design firm SanTec is promising a “future-ready” campus that embraces sustainability. World Logistics Center is aiming to be a carbon-neutral facility, with photovoltaic solar panels on warehouse rooftops and 1,080 EV charging stations; the campus also has set a goal of reducing water usage by 70%.

SanTec is planning to build a mini-community in the sprawling development, including walkable streets, cafes, restaurants, “spaces for arts and culture”—and even a couple of micro-breweries, the newspaper reported.

After ground is broken in Q4 2023, the developer has set an ambitious schedule that aims to complete the World Logistics Center in seven years: 6M SF per year in warehouse space will rise on the site each year until the complex is completed in 2030.

Buildings will be leased at the center throughout the construction project, Highland said.