Catellus Subsidiary Acquires Former Steel Mill

A Catellus Development Corporation subsidiary is the new owner of a 588-acre former Kaiser Steel Mill property in Southern California’s Inland Empire. The site, to be redeveloped as Kaiser Commerce Center, was purchased for approximately $16 million from Kaiser Ventures Inc.

The property – the only large, developable parcel in the Los Angeles Basin with rail service from both Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and Union Pacific (UP) – is located six miles from Ontario International Airport near the junction of Interstates 10 and 15. A six million-sf industrial park and a truck plaza are planned for the site.

Over the past five years in the area, Catellus has developed and currently owns the neighboring Crossroads Business Park, Rancho Cucamonga Corporate Park, Ontario Pacific Distribution Center, and Pacific Gateway. All told, Catellus has built and leased approximately 3.1 million sf in the area, and another 1.5 million sf is under development. Another one million square feet of buildings and 65 acres of land in the area have been sold by the company.

The Kaiser Steel Mill property is a continuation of the Company’s strategy to identify and transform former industrial sites. In 1997, a Catellus subsidiary acquired a 206-acre parcel in Hercules, north of Berkeley, California, the site of a former oil and asphalt refinery.

The refinery was decommissioned, demolished, and is expected to be marketed to homebuilders late this year. The recently approved project, featuring unobstructed views of San Pablo Bay, is entitled for 880 new homes, a school, commercial space, and public parks and open space.

Grading and remediation at Kaiser Commerce Center should continue through mid-2001 with completion of transportation and infrastructure improvements set to coincide with land deliveries in mid-2002. An existing San Bernardino County plan has entitled 375 acres of the property for industrial and truck plaza development.

Catellus owns one of the largest portfolios of developable land in the Western United States, capable of supporting over 44.8 million square feet of new commercial development and an estimated 15,200 residential units.