2M sf logistics hub biggest development in history of Inland Empire city

CapRock Partners behind Norco project on site of historic egg ranch in “Horsetown U.S.A.”

CapRock's Patrick Daniels with rendering and construction site of 1811 Mountain Avenue (CapRock Partners, Nicole Deermount/Carlie Coatsworth Architects)
CapRock's Patrick Daniels with rendering and construction site of 1811 Mountain Avenue (CapRock Partners, Nicole Deermount/Carlie Coatsworth Architects)

The Inland Empire city of Norco will soon get a 2-million-square-foot logistics warehouse, the largest development in its history.

The city known for its equestrian lifestyle has approved the Palomino Business Park, now under construction to replace a historic egg ranch at 1811 Mountain Ave., south of Norco College, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported.

Developer CapRock Partners, based in Newport Beach, announced the master-planned warehouse development would include 24 buildings on 112 acres.

The developer responded to input from the Norco community by including building size limitations, restrictions on truck travel, and added horse trails on all four sides of the warehouse complex.

The project is on the site of the historic Norco Ranch, an egg supplier owned by the late Harry and Hilden Eisen, who were survivors of the Holocaust.

The initial phase of the Class A project will include eight industrial buildings totaling about 700,000 square feet, on 44 acres. The project will reflect Norco’s nickname of “Horsetown U.S.A.” by including wrap-around wooden porches and lantern streetlights.

Buildings in the project’s initial phase will range from about 55,000 square feet to 156,000 square feet, with clear heights from 30 feet to 36 feet. Buildings greater than 20,000 square feet will offer up to 6,000 square feet of mezzanine office space.

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Phase II-A, consisting of nearly 750,000 square feet, is planned to break ground in 2023. A Phase II-B will be approximately 533,000 square feet with an unspecified construction date..

The Palomino Business Park will be east of I-215, two two miles north of the 91 Freeway/I-15 interchange, about an hour drive to LAX and the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

“The Inland Empire industrial real estate market is near full-occupancy as retailers and suppliers continue to shift their strategies in today’s post-pandemic economy,” said Patrick Daniels, co-founder and CEO of CapRock Partners, in a statement. “Norco is well-positioned geographically for logistics and transportation in the Inland Empire West submarket, within minutes to Orange County, and Palomino’s Phase I will be coming online at an ideal time to provide needed warehouse space.”

In 2021, CapRock completed and sold Saddle Ranch Business Park, a 422,000-square-foot four-building Class A industrial warehouse complex in Norco. The asset was 100 percent leased to vitamin and nutrition company, Goli Nutrition.

CapRock’s portfolio includes nearly 30 million square feet of industrial real estate assets in Central and Southern California, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Texas. Within the next 12 months, it will develop 10 million square feet of industrial space, not including the Palomino and Saddle Ranch parks.

[Riverside Press-Enterprise] – Dana Bartholomew

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