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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Long Dormant 40 Acres of Land To Be Developed

Long Dormant 40 Acres of Land To Be Developed By SHELLY GARCIA Senior Reporter A 40-acre parcel of land in the middle of the San Fernando Valley that has remained vacant for decades? Unlikely as it may seem, that has been the case for a Sun Valley property that was just acquired by a private investor group. The parcel, on the 11000 block of Peoria Avenue, has been vacant since Calmat Co. discontinued mining the land for concrete, but the former use made it too expensive to redevelop. Now Sun Valley Development Partners LLC plans to convert the property for use as surface storage yards that can store autos, equipment or materials. “I represent a lot of developers, and they have a tendency to want a project they can fall in love with,” said Anthony Bouza, an attorney with Bouza, Klein & Goosenberg in downtown L.A, who is representing the developers. “They can drive by and say, ‘I built this beautiful building.’ There’s a strong demand for surface use for storage, but it’s not sexy.” Manufacturers often require storage facilities for fleets or materials, but at an average of $12 to $15 per square foot, most industrial land is too expensive to house a supply yard or parking area. “The San Fernando Valley has a vacancy rate of 1 percent,” said Greg Barsamian, a broker with CB Richard Ellis, who is marketing the site along with Bennett Robinson. “You have automotive storage, marble and granite guys, truck terminals. You drive around and there is literally nothing available for those types of users.” Bouza declined to reveal what Sun Valley Development Partners paid for the land, but he did acknowledge that the cost of the parcel was well under the market rate for industrial land in the Valley. “The return is a lot less, but you don’t pay for this property what you would pay for typical industrial land,” Bouza said. “You’re also spending a lot less money to prepare it for surface use.” Because it was used as a sand and gravel mine, the ground is unstable, and it would require extensive work to bolster the foundation before a building could be erected. But the improvements required to use the land for storage are relatively simple and inexpensive. Bouza said the company expects to spend less than $1 million to prepare the land. “It’s not a huge number,” he added. Despite the strong demand for such storage facilities, the land was on the market for a number of years. The land is subdivided into eight separate parcels, and the owners did not want to sell off the parcels individually. “If they had been willing to sell one lot at a time it would have been easier,” Bouza said. “You need someone larger to be willing to buy all eight lots because you can’t get the usual suspects to finance it.” Sun Valley Development Partners became aware of the parcel while working on another nearby project, “and it just smelled like an opportunity,” Bouza said. “We started talking to Greg (Barsamian) about the market demand for surface use, and that’s what got us excited about it.” Grading is expected to begin sometime this quarter, and a marketing program is already underway. “It’s been very well received,” Barsamian said, “and I think it proves there is a demand out there.”

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