Ontario Ca Development And Redevelopment

From its red domes and flag-draped spires to its high-tech thrill rides and wilderness attractions, the sprawling complex under construction at the junction of the 10 and 15 freeways appears to be an amusement park. Stretching over 131 acres in the city of Ontario, it is actually the state's largest shopping complex, melding the theme park and mega-mall concepts under one roof. Scheduled to open Nov.

Now that Ontario has established itself as one of the country's biggest warehouse and distribution centers, other growing Inland Empire cities want to get in on the act. Developers hope to turn thousands of acres around two former Air Force bases in San Bernardino County into distribution hubs featuring huge warehouses like those in and around Ontario, which has evolved in the last dozen years to become one of a handful of leading distribution hubs in the nation.

Twenty years ago Thursday, the first California 500 for Indy cars was run at Ontario Motor Speedway before 180,233 spectators, called at the time the largest attendance at any sporting event in California. Jim McElreath, driving a backup Coyote-Ford owned by A.J. Foyt, won the race at an average speed of 160.106 m.p.h. and collected $156,000 from a purse of $727,500. The attendance, the speed and the payoff were never bettered at Ontario.

Four months after she moved into her dream house in a newly minted subdivision, Cathie Kunkel got a grisly reminder of the dairy farm that had been there before. A contractor digging a hole in her backyard for a small pond and planter unearthed several cow carcasses Friday. Sickened by the smell and concerned about the health effects for her and her three children, Kunkel temporarily moved out of the home on St. Andrews Street and into a hotel.

Developers have announced a 1.1-million-square-foot speculative industrial project in Ontario and a 412,580-square-foot build-to-suit industrial development in Temecula as the Inland Empire continues its growth as one of the country's leading warehousing and distribution centers.

As expected, growing retail giant Pier 1 Imports has committed to one of the biggest industrial real estate leases ever in the distribution hub surrounding Ontario International Airport. The Fort Worth, Texas-based home furnishings retailer signed a 15-year deal for a 750,000-square-foot "build-to-suit" regional distribution center within developer Lennar Partners' Philadelphia Place mixed-use business park in Ontario.

Ontario International Airport, still a homely country terminal recalling an earlier age in Southern California, has begun a $300-million building program that will give it two new terminals--and probably a third to be added later--and enough passengers and freight to make it possibly the state's third-largest airport.

SDC Development of Newport Beach has bought 31 acres in Ontario to build its $40-million Archibald Freeway Center. SDC had originally planned to build the complex of industrial buildings on a nearby 28-acre parcel at Vineyard Avenue and the Pomona Freeway, but it wound up selling that site for $12 million to Kaiser Permanente for a hospital. The new site is at the Pomona Freeway and Archibald Avenue. SDC plans to start building the complex early next year.

One Big Outlet Mall: Groundbreaking for the 1.7-million-square-foot Ontario Mills mall will take place Wednesday at the intersection of Interstates 10 and 15 in Ontario. The mall, which will cost about $150 million, is scheduled to open in late 1996. It will create up to 2,500 construction jobs and another 5,000 permanent jobs when it opens. The facility will be California's largest discount-oriented outlet mall. J.C.

Developers have announced a 1.1-million-square-foot speculative industrial project in Ontario and a 412,580-square-foot build-to-suit industrial development in Temecula as the Inland Empire continues its growth as one of the country's leading warehousing and distribution centers.

Construction is expected to begin this week on Haven Gateway Centre, a $55-million industrial and distribution center in Ontario. The 1.5-million-square-foot complex will rise on an 88-acre parcel adjacent to the Pomona Freeway at Haven Avenue. It is scheduled to open in October.

As expected, growing retail giant Pier 1 Imports has committed to one of the biggest industrial real estate leases ever in the distribution hub surrounding Ontario International Airport. The Fort Worth, Texas-based home furnishings retailer signed a 15-year deal for a 750,000-square-foot "build-to-suit" regional distribution center within developer Lennar Partners' Philadelphia Place mixed-use business park in Ontario.

Ontario may soon see one of the biggest industrial real estate "build-to-suit" developments in Southern California history, according to real estate professionals familiar with the project. The likely tenant, big international retailer Pier 1 Imports Inc., hasn't formally committed to the LNR Property Corp. planned development along the Pomona (60) Freeway south of Ontario International Airport.

When the nine-story Empire Towers office building was planned in Ontario in the late 1980s, the Inland Empire's commercial market was enjoying an unprecedented expansion. But boom had turned to bust by the time the project was completed in 1991. "The day it opened was just about the day the market crashed," said Mark Jacobs, leasing officer for Baltimore-based American Trading Real Estate Properties Inc., which developed the building.

When movie industry executives require an example of the current boom in theater construction, they need look no farther than the budding film exhibition mecca of Ontario. During the next four months, 1,000 new screens will be unveiled across the country--a staggering 52 in two competing megaplexes just a football field's length apart at the mammoth new Ontario Mills mall about 40 miles east of Los Angeles.

Four months after she moved into her dream house in a newly minted subdivision, Cathie Kunkel got a grisly reminder of the dairy farm that had been there before. A contractor digging a hole in her backyard for a small pond and planter unearthed several cow carcasses Friday. Sickened by the smell and concerned about the health effects for her and her three children, Kunkel temporarily moved out of the home on St. Andrews Street and into a hotel.

Ontario International Airport, still a homely country terminal recalling an earlier age in Southern California, has begun a $300-million building program that will give it two new terminals--and probably a third to be added later--and enough passengers and freight to make it possibly the state's third-largest airport.

From its red domes and flag-draped spires to its high-tech thrill rides and wilderness attractions, the sprawling complex under construction at the junction of the 10 and 15 freeways appears to be an amusement park. Stretching over 131 acres in the city of Ontario, it is actually the state's largest shopping complex, melding the theme park and mega-mall concepts under one roof. Scheduled to open Nov.