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Nestlé USA Lands Cool Deal for Ice Cream Distribution

Nestlé USA has leased roughly two acres of land in Chatsworth to build a distribution center for its ice cream products and more. Nestle will use the new facility, which should be up and running in about six months, for distributing and storing Dreyer’s ice cream and frozen pizza, said Nestle spokeswoman Deborah Hymes. The company is reworking its distribution routes to better serve customers, a move which required a third Valley distribution site, she said. No workers will be laid off or hired as part of the reorganization, she said. Nestlé will put more than $500,000 into developing the site on Nordhoff Street, said Senior Vice President Scott Caswell of Delphi Business Properties Inc., who represented the landlord. Caswell said the lease — valued at more than $1.5 million and finalized in early February — was for a long-term period, but declined to reveal an expiration date. AMS Gobbles More Space Valencia-based AMS Fulfillment signed two leases in early February totaling roughly 160,000 square feet. The leases are the latest pickup for a third party warehousing firm brokers say has nearly single-handedly improved the Santa Clarita valley industrial market. CEO Ken Wiseman said his company signed a five-year lease for approximately 120,000 square feet of industrial space at 27801 Avenue Scott in Valencia. The firm also inked a short-term deal for 40,000 square feet at 27925 Franklin Parkway. The Avenue Scott building will house inventory for a plethora of AMS’ footwear and apparel clients, including its new footwear client EMU Australia, Wiseman said. AMS leased about 500,000 square feet of industrial space last year as it saw rapid growth. Wiseman told the Business Journal in January that the firm expected to post more than $30 million in revenue in 2011, up from $15.6 million in 2010. AMS is flirting with consolidating some of its operations in smaller buildings into the Avenue Scott facility, but the EMU contract, which was signed two weeks ago, makes that possibility less likely, Wiseman said. “This may lead to us vacating a few smaller buildings, but we don’t know that for sure right now,” he said. New Urban Amends Condo Plans After facing stiff opposition from the community, New Urban West Inc. has altered its plans to build 120 condos in Burbank’s equestrian Rancho neighborhood. The Santa Monica-based developer has instead opted to build 50 single-family homes at the former GM Training facility on Riverside Drive, a significant reduction from the 120 condos it proposed last year. Residents in Burbank’s Rancho neighborhood, who once defeated a plan for a neighborhood Whole Foods, said New Urban’s development would increase traffic and harm the equestrian atmosphere of the neighborhood where residents meander along paths on top of mares. “We believe in listening and responding and acting, and that is what we have attempted to do,” New Urban Senior Vice President Tom Zanic said. New Urban West submitted its revived proposal to the city on Feb. 3. Because the site is zoned for commercial and office uses, New Urban West needs a zone change to build residential units. The developer plans to market the single-detached homes to horse lovers through equestrian publications, offer the first 10 buyers that own horses a year of free boarding at a nearby stable and commission an equestrian art piece. Residents at a November community meeting voiced concerns that the Rancho neighborhood was losing its equestrian charm and some demanded stables be included in any project. However Zanic said the lot sizes are too small to support stables. New Urban West has reduced the density as far as it can to make the project work financially, Zanic said. Any further reduction would cause the firm to “look at other options,” he said. Staff Reporter Andrew Khouri can be reached at [email protected]. or at (818) 316-3124

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