Scannell buys 17 acres of Tejon Ranch for manufacturing

A private Indianapolis-based firm has bought a site for a manufacturing complex on the 20 million square foot commercial hub at the Tejon Ranch property that spreads into the San Joaquin Valley alongside Interstate 5.

Scannell Properties paid an undisclosed price for a 17-acre chunk of the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center, located around 80 miles north of Downtown Los Angeles and 30 miles south of Bakersfield.

Scannell is planning to build a 270,000-square-foot manufacturing complex on the site, with completion slated for 2023, according to a Thursday announcement.

The site will be leased by Plant Prefab, a prefab and modular construction firm that specializes in housing.

The facility’s location near Interstate 5 and Highway 99 will allow “Plant Prefab will be able to expand its reach to the entire Western U.S.,” Scannell Properties’ Jacob Holdeman said in a statement.

Plant Prefab is headquartered in the Inland Empire municipality of Rialto and will use the new facility to build its panel-based modular system for homes, which can be assembled into different rooms, including kitchens and bathrooms.

Tejon Ranch, one of the largest private landowners in California, built the industrial complex in 2017 in partnership with Ed Roski’s Majestic Realty.

Existing industrial space at the complex is 100 percent leased, Tejon Ranch’s head of real estate, Joseph Rentfro said in a statement. The no-vacancy status is in line with the booming demand for industrial space amid e-commerce growth over the last two years. The land owner also is building a 630,000-square-foot spec development at its commerce center on spec.