Business Park Aims for the High End

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When executives at Thrifty Oil Co. decided to convert a shutdown refinery into an industrial park, they aimed high. Technical amenities such as parking, power outlets and fire sprinklers would exceed standards. In addition, the park would cater to the human element with public art, stylish architecture and even a food court for workers.

“Many spec developers build the cheapest box and try to sell it,” said Moshe Sassover, a Thrifty executive who manages Golden Springs Business Center. “We tried to do something different. We want the tenants to feel this is a great place to come to work. Whether they like their job or not, I can’t control that, but at least they can feel the physical surroundings are fine.”

The 5.1-million-square-foot Santa Fe Springs business park, completed in 2007 year after nine years of build-out, was developed when the independent oil company shut down the Golden West Oil refinery in 1992 due to low profit margins.

The company decided a high-end industrial park would be the highest and best use in an area of Los Angeles County where many industrial properties are older and were designed years ago.

The new park has all concrete parking lots capable of handling heavy-load trucks. Warehouse ceilings are 32 feet high because a study found tenants could stack the maximum number of pallets at that height. Besides the current fiber-optic Internet access, the park has empty conduits underneath the streets just in case some future technology requires a new type of cable.

“They were so forward-thinking in their design,” said Stephen Calhoun, a broker for the property with Colliers International. “For example, the city would have allowed them to build more square feet, but they didn’t to allow more space for truck turning and parking.”

The park’s functionality also benefits from location, location, location. With a short drive, truckers can access three different on-ramps to the Golden State (5) Freeway and are within striking distance of four other freeways.

“If you were to look at a map of Los Angeles and Orange counties and thought about distribution, you would find Santa Fe Springs is near the center of where people want to be,” Sassover said.

The park has won the Excellence in Brownfield Development award from the California Redevelopment Association.



BEST INDUSTRIAL PARK

Golden Springs Business Center

Carmenita Road, Santa Fe Springs

Developer: Thrifty Oil Co. (Golden Springs Development Co.)

Specs: 5.1 million square feet on 265 acres

Key Fact: State-of-the-art facilities for storage and transport command some of county’s highest lease rates

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