Central California

www.californiacv.com

Warehouse Distribution

Distribution centers top the list of new business development. Wayne Kress, CB Richard Ellis vice president of industrial properties, says the trend started a couple of years ago and shows no sign of slowing down. A Central California location is within hours of 35 million people, providing sound logistics. In addition, the valley has plenty of reasonably-priced land available and local governments are willing to grow, as evidenced by the recent approval of an 1100-acre expansion of the Tejon Industrial Complex in the southern end of the valley. The expansion adds 3.5 million square feet to the project’s current 2.3 million square feet that houses new IKEA and Daisytek distribution facilities.

Locating in the state’s geographic center also provides businesses with overnight access to northern and southern California markets – a plus for logistics operations such as Walmart, which operates a distribution facility in Porterville and recently acquired land to build a 1 million square foot facility in Merced. Another distribution firm, VF Outdoor, Inc., has leased an 800,000 square foot facility under construction in Visalia, joining Target, IKEA, Gottschalks and others with a Central California address.

Over 25,000 miles of uncrowded highways, roads and streets connect the communities of this 26,000 square mile region, and the centralized location, coupled with excellent transportation systems, offers quick and easy access to all of California, as well as to markets throughout the Western United States. Freight moves easily via truck on well-maintained highways or by rail through strategic intermodal centers. Airfreight operations are also available for overnight deliveries.