The 75-Mile Circle: The Victor Valley
A 75-mile circle surrounding Los Angeles encompasses the Victor Valley region of Southern California’s Inland Empire. Professional Land Corporation has a diverse inventory of prime Southern California properties in a multitude of locations, including the fabulous Victor Valley, and other Inland Empire locations that lie outside of the Victor Valley, such as Barstow and the surrounding communities.

The Inland Empire
The Inland Empire consists of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. The U.S. Commerce Department has predicted that the Inland Empire, which lies next to Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego Counties, will outperform the growth rate of any other area in the United States. Furthermore, the California Department of Finance has predicted that the Inland Empire in the next decade will be the fastest growing urban area of California.

 

 

According to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, February 4, 2010, KTR Capital Partners LLC recently announced it had purchased 1.2 million square feet of warehouse space near the intersection of interstates 10 and 15 in Ontario. Inland Empire Economist, John Husing, said he's been contacted by representatives of several well-funded commercial real estate companies recently who want to retain him for counsel on future deals.

Husing said these companies recognize that when the recession is over, the Inland region will look the same as it did before 2007, when it was viewed as probably the top distribution hub in the country. "It's almost like someone turned on a switch," Husing said of the new interest. "It looks like the commercial real estate community is sensing that the worst is over, and the smart ones are positioning themselves for the next Bull Run."

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, June 1, 2010, for the seventh consecutive month, the Inland Empire's economy remained in growth mode in May. The region's Purchasing Manager's Index "indicates growth for both the local economy in general and for the manufacturing sector in particular," according to the Inland Empire Report on Business prepared by the Institute for Applied Research at California State University, San Bernardino. The region's employment index rose significantly in May, the report notes. "This increase in the level of employment is especially important in that is has been the missing ingredient for a sustained and general recovery in the local economy," the report says.

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, April 14, 2010, commercial property brokers in San Bernardino County have seen a steady rise in sales and leasing of properties in just about every size and shape over the first quarter of this year. Most are under 25,000 square feet, commercial property brokers in Victorville and San Bernardino say, but midsize spaces ranging from 75,000 to 250,000 square feet have also seen renewed demand.

"What we've seen (in the Victor Valley) really since the first of the year is more retail and office space businesses," a broker at a real estate office in Victorville, said. "It's retailing that's driving an uptick in the economy." A number of economic reports back him up. The U.S. Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose 1.6 percent in March, more than what many analysts expected and the third consecutive month of gains.

 

 

According to the Barstow Desert Dispatch, November 3, 2009, investor Warren Buffett is making what he calls an "all-in wager" on the U.S. economy - $34 billion to buy a major railroad that hauls everything from corn to cars across the country. Burlington Northern, the nation's second-largest railroad, is the biggest hauler of food products like corn, and coal for electricity, making it an indicator of the country's economic health. The railroad also ships a large amount of consumer goods - including items imported from Asia - from big Western ports like Los Angeles and Seattle.

Berkshire Hathaway already owns about 22 percent of Burlington Northern, and will pay $100 a share in cash and stock for the rest of the company. That was 31.5 percent premium on Burlington Northern's recent closing price. The stock shot up over 28 percent Tuesday, to $97.66 in afternoon trading. "Berkshire's $34 billion investment in BNSF is a huge bet on that company, CEO Matt Rose and his team, and the railroad industry," Buffett said in a statement.

Warren Buffett thinks railroads are a key economic indicator because of the amount of retail and manufactured goods they haul across the country. "They do it in a cost-effective way and extraordinarily environmentally friendly way," he told CNBC. "I basically believe this country will prosper and you'll have more people moving more goods 10 and 20 and 30 years from now, and the rails should benefit." Analysts say Buffett is looking for an investment that will reap rewards for many years into the future, and isn't so concerned about immediate gains.

Railroads are much more energy-efficient than trucks because they use much less fuel. An average Burlington Northern train hauls as much freight as 280 trucks. Rails are also favored by some shippers because they can carry things that can't travel on highways, like hazardous chemicals.

 

 

According to Inland Newspapers, October 30, 2009, a high speed rail is coming to the Inland Empire. The only question is, will it run through San Bernardino or Riverside County. "It'll be a whole new system of transportation that will employ hundreds of thousands of people," said San Bernardino Mayor Pat Morris, who serves on the board of San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG), the county transportation planning agency.

The 800-mile, $45 billion high-speed train system will haul passengers from Los Angeles to San Diego, via the Inland Empire. Several routes are proposed in the Inland region. Tracks can run parallel to the 10 Freeway and then bend north, running adjacent the Metrolink line, or run parallel to Holt Avenue in Ontario. The tracks can then either continue east into San Bernardino or run south, parallel to the 215 Freeway. Or they can run south from Ontario, adjacent the 15 Freeway, through Riverside County, Donahue said. The project is aimed at complementing existing Metrolink and Amtrack services, as well as multiple high-speed rail and rapid transit projects planned for the San Bernardino Valley in coming years. "Those systems are designed to be what we call feeders into the high-speed rail, so it's very important we have those light rail and bus services that will feed into the high speed network," Donahue said. "The more of those feeder systems are available, the greater the ridership will be."

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, February 18, 2010, the national "stimulus" package has funneled more than $500 million into public and private coffers in San Bernardino County since Congress passed the $862 billion spending bill one year ago. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and multiple private forecasters credit the stimulus package with creating or retaining 2 million jobs, plus helping add several percentage points to gross domestic product growth.

The bulk of San Bernardino County's stimulus funds - about $240 million - have gone into transportation related projects, ranging from $7.7 million to repair Cushenbury Creek Bridge near Lucerne Valley, to $3.4 million for Victor Valley Transit Authority to help build a new administration and maintenance facility. Stimulus dollars helped nearly double the funding toward the planned Interstate 215 and Interstate 15 interchange at Devore, which is set to employ 8,000 people over the next three years, according to 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt.

By November, $101 million in stimulus-backed loans was split among 227 businesses countywide, according to the Small Business Administration's Santa Ana District Office. Victor Valley business stimulus boons have ranged from The Budget Inn of Victorville's $1.5 million loan to Victorville Speedwash's $1.9 million loan." That's definitely the reason that we are here today," said Pedram Fararooy, co-owner of Victorville Speedwash, which held its grand opening on Dec. 15. The stimulus package has also helped educate local students, with Victor Valley College getting more than $8.5 million for Pell Grant student aid, and Victor Valley Beauty College and Westech College also receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of tuition grants.

 

 

According to the Victorville Daily Press, January 12, 2010, if a Beverly Hills-based company has its way; Victorville may well become the "Gateway to China." Yasheng ECO-Trade Corporation has been working for more than a year on plans to develop a massive logistics center near Southern California Logistics Airport, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As planned, the "Yasheng Asia Pacific Cooperative Zone" would initially house operations for some 50 Chinese companies, SEC documents state, creating a centralized location to finish production on goods imported through the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports and then market, sell and distribute those products.

 

 

Why is this happening in the Inland Empire?

The answer is jobs and housing. During the 1990's Southern California suffered a strong recession and many jobs were lost to other states. However, there was no period when the Inland Empire's job creation stopped growing.

From 2000-2020, the Southern California Association of Governments forecasts that the Inland Empire will add 805,286 jobs. In this period, Los Angeles County is forecasted to grow by 918,741. However, the Inland Empire would add more jobs than the 747,238 expected in Orange, San Diego, Ventura and Imperial counties combined. In 2004, the Inland Empire added 49,092 jobs which equaled the gains in Orange & San Diego counties combined. Los Angeles added just 8,958.

According to the 2005 Husing Report, the Inland Empire has been Southern California's absolute leader in job creation for the past thirteen years, exceeding second place San Diego County by 151,500.

This job creation has been helped by the Region's educational systems. The Inland Empire is the home to 27 colleges and universities, which produce an educated and highly skilled labor force. This will help the future labor force of the Region, and should continue to attract the interests of large corporations in the United States and worldwide for many years to come.

This impressive labor force has contributed to Riverside and San Bernardino counties representing one-third of the Southern California housing market. When Data Quick started tracking the region 17 years ago, Riverside's and San Bernardino's slice of the regional homes sales activity was about half that size. In just the first two months of 2005, Inland Empire builders pulled building permits for 5,564 detached homes vs. 416 in Orange County, according to the Construction Industry Research Board.

Land values in the Southern portion of the Inland Empire have already become expensive. In November 2007, Collins Commercial Corporation announced the completion of a 62-acre land sale in excess of $40,000,000 in the Inland Empire city of Fontana. CBRE and Phelan partnered together to purchase and develop the property into a three-building, Class A industrial business park totaling in excess of 1.2 million square feet. In September 2008 the Inland Empire city of Murietta sold 9.8 acres of land situated between Madison Avenue and Interstate 15 behind, Wal Mart, for $5.2 Million. The City of Murrieta bought this land in 2004 for $3.85 million and made a $1.3 million dollar profit on the sale. The property is slated for the development of 2 hotels plus restaurants along with a possible car dealership and 53,000 square feet of commercial retail space as part of a 130 acre project called Cascada Del Sol.

On the other hand, the Inland Empire North offers reasonably priced properties in a dynamic, growing Region. Professional Land Corporation specializes in well located land parcels in the Inland Empire North in the Victor Valley, and in Barstow and surrounding communities. Many of these properties are zoned residential, industrial or commercial. Prime acreage parcels can be purchased with affordable long term financing.