According to the Victorville Daily Press, July 13, 2011, two Wal-Mart Supercenters are set to break ground in the Victor Valley and bring an estimated 385 new jobs to the area by next summer. Both projects are expected to take roughly a year to complete, Wal-mart spokesman, Aaron Rios, said for openings in mid-2012. As the projects progress, job notices will be posted online at WalmartStores.com/Careers. Supercenters are nearly double the size of regular Wal-mart stores, offering groceries including meat and fresh produce. Both local stores will also have pharmacies and garden centers, along with the staples found in all Wal-mart sites.

Hesperia Wal-mart Supercenter

Hesperia's first Wal-mart Supercenter will be on the corner of Main Street and Escondido Avenue, east of Interstate 15. Some 300 new jobs will be available as the 195,350-square-foot store opens next summer. The site Wal-Mart chose is in Hesperia's Enterprise Zone. Wal-Mart gets to take advantage of a number of tax breaks and incentives through the state-approved program.

Victorville Wal-mart Supercenter

Victorville's first Wal-mart Supercenter will be located next to the Kohl's store along Interstate 15, across Bear Valley Road from the Mall of the Victor Valley. Along with expanded offerings for food, auto repairs and more, city spokeswoman Monica Petersen said the site will include a McDonald's restaurant.

 

 

According to the Hesperia Star, November 8, 2010, situated across from Victor Valley College, the Jacaranda Professional Plaza is proving the real estate axiom "location, location, location." The three-story, 24,000-square-foot medical building takes advantage of Bear Valley Road traffic flow and easy accessibility from Victorville, Hesperia and Apple Valley. Besides the Keen Medical Group, which specializes in family medicine, the Jacaranda Professional Center has three other major tenants, the Southern California Bone & Joint Clinic, the Balance Disorders Institute at Power Center Physical Therapy and Loma Linda Pediatric and Cardiology. "Everybody knows this building," said Dr. Thomas Liu, who specializes in sports medicine. The Jacaranda Medical Plaza just completed its first year in operation. Also, an orthopedic surgeon who served his residency at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, serves as team doctor for four local high schools. In addition, Power Center Physical Therapy, which is run by licensed physical therapist Yvette Sardillo, combines therapy with wellness and fitness programs by utilizing the facility's state-of the-art exercise equipment. "We are the biggest therapy clinic in the Victor Valley," Sardillo said. The facility also provides fall prevention training, a weight loss clinic - including childhood obesity - and Pilates, according to Sardillo.

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, November 10, 2010, Victor Valley residents now have a single central location for county services without braving the Cajon Pass. The Jerry Lewis High Desert Government Center, next to the new Hesperia Police Station, and across from Hesperia City Hall and the Hesperia branch library, held its official grand opening on Wednesday, although many of the county offices inside have been in operation for days or weeks. "This center exists to provide the best possible service to High Desert residents," First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt said at the dedication ceremony for the center. The $20 million, 66,000 square foot building is largely powered by the sun, thanks to solar cells on the roofs of the carport next door and features other environmentally friendly features. The center is not yet fully occupied - the county is discussing housing other agencies that are currently scattered around the Victor Valley, Mitzelfelt said - but the building already houses branch offices of the Assessor, Code Enforcement, County Clerk and Recorder, County Fire, Environmental Health, Planning, Building and Safety, Public Works, and Veterans Affairs departments. The building also features a pair of wedding chapels for those picking up their marriage licenses from the clerk's office. The Jerry Lewis High Desert Government Center is located at 15900 Smoke Tree Street in Hesperia and is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

 

According to the Hesperia Star, January 21, 2011, construction of a Walmart Supercenter at the corner of Main and Escondido, is at last underway. City Manager Mike Podegracz mentioned the work in passing at Tuesday night's meeting of the Hesperia City Council, noting that the Joshua trees being moved off-site would be followed by actual grading soon. The company had delayed construction to wait out the recession. "The grading plans have been in plan check for some time now," Principal Planner Dave Reno said Friday. As for the trees being moved off-site, not all of them will be making it to new homes. "Some can be transplanted, which means that they'll be pulled out by the roots," Reno said. "Some trees that have been identified by the [tree] expert as not able to survive the transplant, they'll just be cut down and removed." Of the 246 Joshua trees at the Walmart site, 128 of them will be replanted somewhere. Sixty of those will be used in the landscaping of the new shopping center. After the grading plans are approved, Reno expects work on the store and shopping center to proceed quickly. "I think they want to break ground as soon as possible, probably in a couple of weeks," Reno said. "Then I think they want to open the store by summer 2012."

 

 

According to the Hesperia Star, February 14, 2011, the Hesperia Planning Commission last Thursday gave the green light for a two-story, 164-unit condominium project near Main Street between Topaz and Tamarisk avenues. The commission voted 4-0 in favor on the development's site plan review and tentative tract. Newport Beach-based Granite Springs was the applicant on the medium density residential project. "We've worked on this project for a long time," said Robert Mahony, chief financial officer for the Lucas General Contracting Corp., which owns Granite Springs. The project, which will be built in three phases on 15 acres, will feature detached units built in three styles - Spanish, craftsman and Mediterranean. Units will range in size from 1,300 to 1,900 square feet and have private rear yards.

 

 

 

 

According to the Orange County Register, October 6, 2010, it's official, once again, that California is an expensive place to do business. But two local communities, Apple Valley and Hesperia, made the list of the 10 least expensive cities to do business. The latest confirmation comes from the 2010 Kosmont-Rose Cost of Doing Business survey released Saturday. It is a project of Kosmont Companies of Los Angeles and the Rose Institute of State and Local Government at Claremont McKenna College. A third of the 40 most expensive U.S. cities for business in the survey are in California while three of the 40 least expensive are in this state.

 

 

According to the Hesperia Star, April 28, 2010, while a construction crew worked on the foundation, Golden Corral franchisee Johnny Rojo and representatives from the Hesperia Community Redevelopment Agency presided over the restaurant's ground breaking ceremony. "A restaurant by itself is nothing," Rojo said. "The most successful restaurants are developed with a relationship with the community. We are off to what we think is a great start." Rojo's quest to build an eatery in Hesperia began four years ago, according to Mayor Thurston "Smitty" Smith. "We're really excited that the Golden Corral is coming to Hesperia," he said. "Collectively they bring over 50 years of experience in the restaurant business. We commend them for their commitment." Smith was pleased that Hesperia landed the first Golden Corral, a Raleigh, N.C.-based buffet and grill chain. "They have 484 restaurants in their chain," Smith said. "They have five in California, two in Southern California, and we have the first one in High Desert, in Hesperia."

According to Steve Lantsberger, Hesperia's Deputy Director of Economic Development, the project represents a $4.3 million investment in the city. "It's very welcome in these economic times. It's going to create about 135 jobs for our residents of Hesperia."

Rojo and his partner settled on the Hesperia location because of its proximity to travelers. He also credited the city's Redevelopment Agency staff for helping move the project along. "I knew this was going to be an amazing place to locate a restaurant and build relationships in a community," Rojo said. "We are very excited to open this restaurant in this location. We worked so long to get to this point. We want to be a part of Hesperia."

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, July 15, 2010, Hesperia redevelopment agency officials have made their pitch, and now they're hoping leaders of the private sector will spread the word: the Hesperia Enterprise Zone offers money-saving incentives for businesses. "You are the private sector experts," Steve J. Lantsberger, Hesperia's deputy economic development director, said during the "Resource Partners Kickoff". Businesses located within the 30-square-mile area of the city could take advantage of tax incentives that include hiring credits, net operating loss deduction, business expense deduction, sales or use tax credits and net interest deduction for lenders.

The owner of a Victorville-based commercial real estate company said she previously ran a business in Fresno that benefited from a similar enterprise zone. "We saved $30,000 in tax credits," she said.

Yvonne Woytovich, executive director of the Hesperia Chamber of Commerce, said the zone could make a real difference for businesses in Hesperia. Recently Woytovich talked to chamber executives who serve areas within enterprise zones, and the consensus was clear: Enterprise zones help improve the local economy and create more jobs.

 

 

According to the Hesperia Star, August 4, 2010, the plaza, located off 7th Avenue, has been home to both city hall and the Hesperia branch community library. Now it will be home to two more government buildings: The city's new sheriff's station and the Jerry Lewis High Desert San Bernardino County Government Center. Both are designed with ample room for their respective agencies to grow into for decades to come. Construction on the sheriff's station is expected to wrap up in September (with a grand opening in October) and the county building will be done several weeks later.

At 43,000 square feet, the new sheriff's station is almost six times as large as the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department's 7,600 square foot current station on Santa Fe Avenue, which was previously a convenience store and then the city's water department. The new station will house 75 members of the department, including sworn officers, along with additional volunteers. Although both buildings have aesthetic similarities to city hall, the sheriff's station includes two "observation room" cells, a gymnasium, locker room, a secure evidence room complete with a garage entrance for bringing in large quantities of evidence and other amenities never seen at the more genteel city hall.

A number of county services will be represented at the 66,700 square foot county government building, including the recorder's office, plan check and the registrar of voters. Residents will even be able to get married in two rooms set aside for performing civil marriage ceremonies. As of June, the cost for the government center is currently estimated at $22 million (ultimately paid for by San Bernardino County) and $20 million for the sheriff's station (which will belong to the city of Hesperia).

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, August 17, 2010, the building is up and a grand opening date has been set for the new Marshall's store in the High Desert Gateway shopping center. Now all the store needs is a staff. To get that covered, the clothing retailer's parent company, TJX Companies, Inc., will hold a hiring event from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 30-31 and again on Sept. 2-3 at the Employment Development Department office in Victorville. There will be openings at all positions, from maintenance to sales associates to store management. Because the EDD is California's public labor exchange system, the agency routinely assists employers in filling vacant positions, Cindy Espindola, operations manager of the EDD office in Rancho Cucamonga, said in an e-mail.

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, September 8, 2010, downtown Hesperia has a county government complex and city police station nearly completed, and will soon get another anchor to its civic center: a 12-screen movie theater. The 36,000-square-foot theater complex will be built on city-owned land just west of Civic Center Park at the southeast corner of Smoketree Street and Ninth Avenue. The complex will feature state-of-the-art, digital technology with stadiumstyle seating. Construction for the project will begin in 2011 with completion set for the summer of 2012, according to Steven Lantsberger, deputy director of economic development. The agreement, which was unanimously approved by council members, calls for a 10-year exclusivity period to allow Cinema West to develop a customer base. "We've come to a recommendation of a 10-year exclusivity period to provide safeguards to establish a foothold in this community," Lantsberger said. According to Lantsberger, the project will create 40 new jobs, provide $227,486 in developer fees and generate an estimated $8,370 in annual sales tax and $32,882 in property tax.

 

 

Hesperia is located at the intersection of I-15 and U.S. Highway 395. Hesperia is strategically positioned 35 miles north of the city of San Bernardino, 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles County, and 195 miles south of Las Vegas. Hesperia has a population of about 80,000, an elevation of 3,250 feet above sea level, and a land area of 72 square miles. Housing prices in Hesperia are priced well below those in Los Angeles and Orange County. Hesperia also has the Hesperia Unified School District, which offers a high caliber education to its students. Hesperia is a young community... the average age is 31.98 years. They also have a large school age population, promising a fresh labor pool for years to come.

 

 

 

 

 

According to the Hesperia Star, February 19, 2010, a lawsuit that was delaying construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter has been resolved and the store is now scheduled to open in summer 2012."We've reached a settlement and look forward to serving our customers in the Hesperia area," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Amelia Neufeld said Saturday." Last week we received a call about the project," Harp said. "They intended to submit plans by May of this year." Construction should take 18 to 22 months after plans are submitted, said Harp, meaning the store should open on the southeast corner of Main Street and Escondido Avenue in the summer of 2012.

Wal-Mart isn't the only business preparing to open in Hesperia. The High Desert Gateway, best-known as the site of a Super Target store, will soon have two more retailers opening their doors: Both Ross and Marshall's clothing stores are in plan check right now, said Harp, and are looking to pull construction permits in late April or early May. After that, it will take 10 to 12 months to build each." By summer of next year, they should be open," said Harp. A Golden Corral restaurant is planned for the same shopping center.

 

 

According to the Hesperia Star, January 28, 2010, Hesperia's affordable housing units continue to outpace multi-family construction geared for low-income families." They're already sold out," Hesperia Mayor Thurston "Smitty" Smith said about the recently completed second phase at San Remo Apartments. And the new units at San Remo, which brings the complex's total to 123, have plenty of modern amenities and curb appeal. Housed in two-story, garden-style buildings, the apartments include central heating/cooling, kitchens equipped with frost-free refrigerators, and each unit includes a private outdoor area.

But San Remo, whose grounds sport palm trees and trendy exterior fixtures, also has a community center, laundry facilities, swimming pool and a computer lab. About $4.4 million in gap financing was invested by the Hesperia Community Redevelopment Agency to compete for tax credit financing through the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee. On Tuesday, Lantsberger and Smith were joined by principals from Palm Desert Development Company, the Hesperia Chamber Ambassadors and others to celebrate the project's completion. Eligibility requirements for potential tenants at San Remo include low-income status verification, rental and credit history as well as a criminal background check. Besides San Remo Apartments, the city's redevelopment agency also has helped fund such projects as The Village in Hesperia, Mesa Vista, and The Villas at Hesperia." We have a few others in the pipeline that are at various stages of entitlements," Lantsberger said.

 

 

Hesperia is a Pro-Business Community

Hesperia is a pro-business city with an aggressive economic development program. They offer a one -stop permitting center for development review. Fast track permit processing means administrative planning approvals can come in 21 to 42 days for projects requiring public hearings. Hesperia is a low cost city for development fees. The Kosmont Cost of Doing Business Survey recognized Hesperia for its high level of economic activity. Kosmont rated the City as a very low cost community in terms of business development and operational costs. In addition, Hesperia offers an Economic Development Agency that administers two redevelopment project areas encompassing 24,878 acres, of which 1,032 acres are zoned commercial and industrial. The City offers attractive inducements to developers who develop in these projects areas.

 

This pro business posture has brought some impressive developments to Hesperia. Under construction is a 113-unit senior development center that will encompass over 700,000 square feet. In addition, Walgreen’s Drugs has reported a 15,000 square foot store at the corner of Bear Valley Road and Hesperia Road. Sav-On Drugs has nearly competed its new store of over 15,000 square feet. This will be a drive through pharmacy. Rite-Aid plans to build its own drive through pharmacy and a regular drug store on two 16000 square foot buildings. Other companies with a presence in Hesperia include Dial Precision, a global manufacturer of precision parts for turbochargers. They are doubling their size with the addition of two 10,000 square foot buildings. Double Eagle Transportation has plans for an 8000 square foot truck terminal and maintenance, repair and washing facility. C&M Wood, a global distributor of wood components for venetian blinds plans to expand its facility to 120,000 square feet.

 

Hotel construction is on the rise in Hesperia

Holiday Inn Express has completed a new 100-room hotel off Main Street, just west of I-15. The Holiday Inn Express in Hesperia boasts the High Desert's first indoor pool and suites with spas designed for the relaxation of business travelers. The same development company is preparing to build a new Best Western across Interstate 15, said John Patel, a partner in PCM, LLC an Arizona-based development firm. The 100-room Holiday Inn Express is one of six new hotels that have recently opened in the High Desert, bringing almost 500 new rooms to the area. The new hotels will bring the total number of rooms in the High Desert to 3,640 and 63 hotels or motels for travelers to choose from.

 

Hesperia announces its second new Business Hotel

The Hesperia City Council approved its second business hotel: a 53-room, 24,000-square-foot La Quinta Inn and Suites that shall be built on Mariposa Road. The City will invest $120,000 in the $2.3 million project, Hesperia spokeswoman Kim Summers said. Hesperia expects to gain $48,000 the first year and $62,000 by the fifth year in occupancy taxes. The Hotel will be three stories and will feature business conference rooms and an enclosed pool. "This Hotel will give credence and credibility to the Hesperia business community."

* Some images on this page were provided by the City of Hesperia.