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| VICTORVILLE: THE KEY TO THE VICTOR VALLEY | |||
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The city of Victorville is a pro growth community. The city promotes business retention and encourages expansion though tax incentives and low interest loans. According to the San Bernardino Sun, April 18, 2005, Victorville's median priced new home is $259,456. These homes are often on a much larger lot than you would find in Los Angeles, Orange or San Diego County where median priced homes can cost about $600,000. The high prices of homes in the major cities have caused an influx of people to come to Victorville to buy homes.
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  The
Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA) together with the
Victorville Redevelopment Agency (RDA) offer new companies favorable
economic incentives to encourage them to locate there. These incentives
are available to new and expanding companies. Some of these incentives
include relocation assistance, manufacturing grant assistance, Lambra
tax credits, building fee reimbursements, public infrastructure
assistance, and tax increment loan participation. The SCLA and the RDA have assisted the construction of Sumiden Wide
Products manufacturing plant, the construction of an 827,000 square foot
distribution center for the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, the Mars
Candy company, and the construction of a 50,000 square foot auto center
for Valley-Hi Toyota and Honda. |
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  According
to the Daily Press, 3-13-02, Palmdale Road has been dubbed the "Mile
of Cars," due to all the new car dealerships in that location to
the west of I-15. A new Suzuki Motorcar Dealership shall be built on
Palmdale Road. The CEO of the Dealership said: "This will be one
of the largest stand-alone Suzuki dealerships in the entire nation."
The Japanese carmaker was looking for another Southern California location,
and they chose Victorville, because of the excellent demographics in
the Victor Valley. Another dealership, Betcher Motors, shall sell late
model cars and shall locate on a 29,000 square foot facility, and will
be will be built just south of Palmdale Road on Amargosa Road, which
is the same street as the famous 60 acre Mall of Victor Valley. The Victor
Valley Mall contains Mervyn's, Best Buy, Sears, J.C. Penny, and a host of 100
well known stores.
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Victorville has the prestige private lake community of Spring Valley Lake, which offers gorgeous homes right on the lake with
excellent boating facilities. Spring Valley Lake is a 2007-acre development that offers a Robert Trent Jones Golf Course,
a 200-acre lake with 7 miles of shoreline, a private country club and fully equipped equestrian facilities. Homes in Spring
Valley Lake can be purchased from $250,000 to $800,000. If similar homes were located in Orange or Los Angeles County, many
of them would be selling from $1,000,000 to $3,000,000. Victorville can also boast about the gorgeous homes in its Galaxy,
Foxfire Ranch and Eagle Ranch developments.
Victorville has also made great strides in the area of health care, which is evidenced by the impressive multi-story Kaiser Permanente Building that is visible from I-15. | |||
| MASSIVE 1 MILLION SQ. FT. LOGISTICS PROJECT UNDER WAY AT SCLA IN 2008 | |||
According to the Victorville Daily Press, March 9, 2008, work has begun on what is being called the largest speculative industrial project ever built in the High Desert. Stirling Capital Investments is developing the 1-million-square-foot warehouse-distribution building at SCLA in Victorville, Stirling Vice President Brian Parno said. Construction on the 46-acre site started in February and is expected to be finished in December 2008. Despite the current economic slowdown, Stirling Capital officials still view the High Desert as a solid industrial market. “You don't build a logistics facility like this one for one year; you build it for 50 years." "You're a lot better positioned to do that in the High Desert than you are in Riverside or Ontario even if you could find a large-enough parcel," Parno said. "Down there you're more restricted to serving Southern California." The Victor Valley is a better option.
When it's finished, Southern California Logistics Center at SCLA will create approximately 24,000 jobs, along with another 18,500 supporting jobs in surrounding communities, Victorville Mayor Terry Caldwell said in a release. Mayor Caldwell is also chairman of the Southern California Logistics Airport Authority. The project will generate about $3 billion a year in economic activity, Mayor Caldwell said in the release. Stirling Capital is based in Foothill Ranch in Orange County. It is operated by Dougall Agan and Chris Downey, both of whom have developed more than $3 billion worth of projects in Southern California, according to the release. The 2,500-acre Southern California Logistics Centre is part of Southern California Logistics Airport. SCLA is an 8,500-acre freight transportation hub made up of air, rail and ground components. The Southern California Logistics Airport, which handles cargo flights only, covers 2,500 acres. The planned 3,500-acre Southern California Rail Complex will feature 20 million square feet of distribution and manufacturing space at SCLA. Stirling Capital's 1-million- square-foot building will be located about three miles from Interstate 15, one of the busiest freight corridors in the United States, Parno said. The building will be attractive to any company looking for a western United States distribution hub. The building, which will join four similar light-industrial structures at the logistics center developed by Stirling Capital, will cost about $5 million to construct. All five buildings will cover about 6.5 million square feet on 350 acres, according to a Stirling Capital release. About 200 people are expected to work in the new structure, Parno said. CB Richard Ellis will market the development. The building could handle up to four tenants, but Stirling Capital - which specializes in master-planned communities and major industrial land renovations -- would prefer to lease to one tenant. It's going to be the biggest light-industrial building in the High Desert, without question." The President of Lee & Associates Commercial Real Estate Services' Victorville office said he knows of no larger logistical building in the High Desert than Stirling Capital's latest project.” We’re going to recommend it to any of our clients who are looking for industrial space." "We'd be crazy not to. It's a tough market, no question about it, but I would expect it to fill up pretty quickly. There's a good labor pool to draw from up here." |
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| VICTORVILLE TO BE HOME TO THE WORLD’S LARGEST HYBRID POWER PLANT | |||
According to the Victorville Daily Press, January 18, 2008, Victorville will become the home to the county’s first hybrid gas and solar facility — and the plant is to be the largest of it’s kind in the world. Inland Energy Inc. is in the final stages of permitting for the plant. Victorville 2 is located near the Southern California Logistics Airport. Company officials expect to break ground this spring and be operating in the summer of 2010. The plant will include 250 acres of solar panels that will generate 50 megawatts of energy and a gas-power “combined cycle” plant that will produce 500 megawatts of natural gas, Barnett said.
The project, projected to cost between $700 and 800 million dollars, will be financed based on revenues from the electricity, at no cost to taxpayers, said Tom Barnett, Executive Vice President of developer Inland Energy, Inc. “The city expects to generate significant revenues from it,” Barnett said. “Revenues will be passed potentially back to the residents of the High Desert, in the first instance in the form of cheaper power and in the second, having that cheaper power attract more industry that will create more jobs.” The electricity generated at the plant will connect to the grid that serves most of Southern California, and cities in the High Desert will have the opportunity to benefit directly from the plant, meaning they will start to see their monthly power bills go down. |
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| FIVE WAL-MART SUPERCENTERS ARE PLANNED FOR THE INLAND EMPIRE’S VICTOR VALLEY | |||
According to the Victorville Daily Press, January 20, 2008, five Wal-Mart Supercenters are expected to open in the Victor Valley portion of the Inland Empire over the next two years. Three stores are proposed for Victorville, one for Apple Valley and one for Hesperia. These Supercenters are expected to nearly double the size of a regular Wal-Mart and sell food, including fresh produce. Each store is expected to generate $750,000 per year in local tax revenues according to John Mendez, spokesman for Wal-Mart in Southern California.
Wal-Mart already has regular discount stores in Apple Valley and in Victorville, as well as a distribution center in Apple Valley. The chain’s interest in expanding came from a combination of population growth and requests from customers for more stores. With the addition of the Supercenters, High Desert residents may see prices drop at other major grocery stores. Here are the five planned Supercenters: Victorville: In Victorville, at the Dunia Plaza Shopping Center on Bear Valley Road and I-15, there is planned a Wal-Mart Supercenter combined with a Sam’s Club, as well as three additional parcels for future development. The entire project is expected to employ 720 people on a 33-acre retail site. The Wal-Mart portion will be 231,000 square feet and include an in-store and drive-through pharmacy, a garden center and an auto center. The second proposed Victorville store would be near the corner of Palmdale Road and Highway 395. The third would be on Ridgecrest, near Spring Valley Lake. Wal-Mart is conducting environmental reviews at the sites. City officials are expecting approval later this year, which would mean a possible opening of late 2009 or early 2010. Apple Valley: The proposed Apple Valley store would be on the southeast corner of Highway 18 and Dale Evans Parkway, between Thunderbird Road and Civic Center Park. The 260,000-square-foot project is scheduled to be reviewed by the town's Planning Commission in early 2008, according to the town’s Web site. Hesperia: The Hesperia store will be on the corner of Main Street and Escondido Avenue. Wal-Mart is finishing their environmental review there, said city spokeswoman Kim Summers. She anticipates the project will be approved and they are expected to break ground this fall. |
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| FEDEX COMING TO SCLA IN 2008 | |||
According to the Victorville Daily Press, January 2, 2008, Victorville Mayor Terry Caldwell announced that the Fortune 500 Company, FedEx, will be the newest tenant at SCLA. FedEx agreed to rent an 83,000-square-foot hangar at SCLA, creating an estimated 35 to 50 new jobs.
While the economy has slowed in some sectors, such as residential — commercial and industrial permits in Victorville have increased by 23 percent over the last year, said Caldwell. Caldwell also announced that Rubbermaid, already doing business at SCLA, will be expanding their facilities and grow to roughly one million square feet. Those projects combined with 520,000 square feet of multi-tenant industrial and distribution space and two new hangars being built will make 2008 a better year than 2007, Mayor Caldwell said. |
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| MAYOR OF VICTORVILLE PREDICTS UNPRECEDENTED ECONOMIC BOOM IN VICTORVILLE IN 2007 | |||
According to the Victorville Daily Press, January 4, 2007, the year 2007 may be the beginning of an unprecedented boom time for the city of Victorville, according to Victorville Mayor Caldwell.” Victorville is alive, well, and better off today than when we gave the State of the City last year.” The Mayor also said: “We are ahead of the curve in terms of economic prosperity by every measure that economists use.”
At the center of that prosperity is the city’s effort to reshape the Southern California Logistics Airport into a distribution hub for consumer goods.” SCLA will be the largest rail logistics facility west of the Mississippi River.” “What’s going on at SCLA will soon rival what’s going on any place in this country.” Jobs created at SCLA have so far remained in the area of aircraft maintenance and repair, but the Mayor assured the business community that the incoming positions would be high-end logistics jobs that would boost the quality of life for all residents of the Victor Valley. According to the Victorville Daily Press in another article on January 4, 2007, City officials are in talks with the Port Authority of Long Beach to explore Victorville’s contribution to the statewide flow of goods to consumers.” In an attempt to answer the question on how to better move goods statewide, John Pope, media relations manager for the Port of Long Beach, said: “Victorville could potentially be a part of our solution.” Plans are in the works to transform SCLA into a multi-modal facility and inland port designed to receive both domestic and international goods for distribution throughout the country. Such a logistics industry at SCLA could bring with it high-quality jobs, and with the interest by the Port Authority of Long Beach, officials hope the jobs are finally coming en masse. Such a catalyst would make possible a 5,000-acre master planned community in Victorville, which would be centered on a high-speed train station to Las Vegas and would be nestled at the crux of Interstate 15 and the new E-220 corridor to Palmdale. The prospects for Victorville would make it possible to have a resort where business travelers can attend a seminar, then board a high-speed train to Las Vegas for a little blackjack — all in time to be back for a good-night’s sleep and more networking the next day. With its proximity to Southern California Logistics Airport and the new east-west corridor, Victorville will be the key City of the Victor Valley in a few years, said Victorville’s Development Director, Bill Webb. He foresees a capacity of 80,000 living units, 130 million square feet of commercial space and 9 million square feet for industrial use. In February 2007, the city will break ground on a rail spur that will be the linchpin of a multi-modal logistics hub — adding rail service to the already-available air and trucking capacity. Victorville has been planning for more than a year to build its own multi-modal facility. After several months of land acquisitions, the city has 95 percent of the right-of-way to bring rail service to SCLA, said city spokeswoman Yvonne Hester. She went on to say that construction will commence this year. In addition to the rail spur, a private developer is planning to build several million square feet of speculative development at the SCLA complex, hoping to attract distribution companies who need cross-dock facilities. The developer, Stirling Enterprises, has already announced, in its submittals to the city, its plans to build at SCLA a 400,000-square foot warehouse for Atlanta based consumer-products giant, Newell Rubbermaid. In addition, Victorville and its partner, Inland Energy, are submitting their application to the California Energy Commission for "Victorville No. 2", a 550-megawatt natural gas-fired plant with 50 megawatts of solar input. |
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| COSTCO ANNOUNCES OPENING OF NEW GIANT STORE IN VICTORVILLE IN 2007 | |||
According to the Victorville Daily Press, July 25, 2007, construction is under way on a new Costco facility in Victorville, which shall open in October, and employ over 300 people. Located at Lorene and Valley Center drives, the new store will feature about 160,000 square feet of retail space, which will be about 40 percent larger than the existing store.
“Costco is a significant employer and generator of sales tax revenues.
After the opening of the new store, Costco plans to tear down its existing location, which will be replaced by about 60,000 square feet of retail space.
With booming retail demand in the local market, Costco has struggled to accommodate the large volume of customers in its existing location. In the future, Costco will add another store in the Victor Valley.” Currently, Costco is the only membership store in the Victor Valley. Other membership wholesalers are already maneuvering to get a piece of the action in the hot Victor Valley retail market. Sam’s Club plans to build a store at Bear Valley Road and Amargosa Road in Victorville. |
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| VICTORVILLE ANNOUNCES INTENT TO DOUBLE ITS GEOGRAPHIC BOUNDARIES | |||
According to the Victorville Daily Press, December 20, 2006, the city of Victorville is planning to expand its Sphere of Influence northward to an area that would eventually nearly double its size — from 74 square miles to 132 square miles. On Tuesday night the Victorville City Council approved an application to the County’s Local Agency Formation Commission to extend its sphere to the community of Oro Grande and stretch it all the way to the southern border of Barstow’s Sphere of Influence. The area includes Quartzite Mountain, which represents 37,000 acres, of which about 20,000 acres are developable, said Doug Robertson, Deputy City Manager.
Developers are already looking to build houses in the area, according to Buck Johns, President of Newport Beach-based Inland Group, which is developing a solar-natural gas hybrid power plant for the Victorville.” This will be the largest city in San Bernardino County,” Johns said. “There are housing projects approved right now that will double the size of the city.” According to Johns, jobs will be coming up to the High Desert in rapid order — as evidenced by a planned 400,000-plus Newell Rubbermaid Distribution Center at Victorville’s Southern California Logistics Airport. “The jobs are being driven out of the basin because of the emissions problems,” he said. Kathleen Rollings-McDonald, executive officer of LAFCO, said the proposed sphere-of influence area is monumental. “It’s huge,” she said. Rollings-McDonald, who is charged with managing Victorville’s application, said a Sphere of Influence is a major responsibility. “To have a Sphere of Influence obligates you to plan your facilities,” she said. “You are required to general plan for the area. You are required to master plan for roads, any number of things.” She said she expected some opposition to the plan. “In any sense, where you have that massive a proposal and you affect the development abilities of people, there’s always opposition,” she said. |
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| SCLA READY FOR $340 MILLION EXPANSION, CREATING 13,149 JOBS AND 5.78 MILLION SQUARE FEET OF BUILDINGS IN 2006 | |||
According to the Victorville Daily Press, April 29, 2006, the Southern California Logistics Airport Authority is set to approve a $340-million plan that would develop 5.78 million square feet of industrial, manufacturing and logistics space at the Southern California Logistics Airport. The plan is set to create a projected 13,149 jobs according to SCLA officials. Currently SCLA employs around 2,500 people. Top tenants include General Electric, Liberty West, Pratt & Whitney, Leading Edge, US 101, Boeing, Southern California Aviation, and Heavylift Helicopters.
 “There is a demand pressure for larger buildings of up to 1 million square feet, and we want to provide them for tenants,” said Dougall Agan, principal of Stirling International, the private development partner at SCLA. Agan explained that industrial space is running thin in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino County and more companies have become interested in what SCLA can offer as an alternative Agan said the lack of industrial space in Southern California would be a direct job-generator at SCLA. City Manager Jon Roberts said the project will substantially accelerate the development of jobs and clients at the Southern California Logistics Airport. Moreover, Inland Energy Group President Buck Johns said that SCLA stands to gain much with the shortage of space in the ports of Los Angeles and San Pedro.” With 45 percent of imports in the U.S. coming in through those ports, something has to give," he said. "SCLA is a perfect example of an Inland Port." The deal to build-out the land would include a commitment from the city of Victorville to invest $60 million for infrastructure, Roberts said. City Attorney, Andre De Bortnowsky, said infrastructure development would include the construction of roads, curbs, gutters and sewers. The money to fund these projects would come from redevelopment funds. Dividend Capital Trust will fund most of the $280 million for construction of spec buildings, Roberts said. The project would be developed in three phases. Phase one is scheduled to be completed within a 30-month period, according to SCLA documents Councilman Bob Hunter said companies like Dividend Capital Trust have recognized the growing potential of the Southern California Logistics Airport.” No company would invest so much money unless they stood to get a return on their investment,” Hunter said. “This deal is really going to impact the development of the High Desert economy by creating thousands of jobs.” According to the Victorville Daily Press, October 25, 2005, to fulfill the demand for workers at SCLA, Sterling is working directly with four area junior colleges, including Victor Valley College, to attract mechanics and other personnel needed at this Airport. "Our plan is to start a certificate course that will be taught at SCLA in cooperation with Victor Valley College, San Bernardino Valley College, Chaffey College and Barstow Community College." |
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| 650 UPSCALE HOMES ANNOUNCED FOR 227-ACRES IN VICTORVILLE IN 2006 | |||
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| VICTORVILLE TO GET 492-UNIT UPSCALE APARTMENTS IN 2007 | |||
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| MAJOR RETAIL HUB TO BREAK GROUND IN VICTORVILLE IN JUNE 2005 WITH HOME DEPOT AS THE MAJOR ANCHOR TENANT | |||
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| WICKES FURNITURE TO BE THE MAJOR ANCHOR TENANT IN A NEW VICTORVILLE SHOPPING CENTER IN 2006 | |||
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| VICTORVILLE TO BREAK GROUND IN 2005 ON $80 MILLION RETAIL CENTER WITH OLD NAVY, MARSHALL’S AND LINENS ‘N THINGS AS ANCHOR TENANTS | |||
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| VICTORVILLE TO GET GIGANTIC AUTO MALL ON I-15 | |||
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| FIRST MAJOR POWER PLANT IN CALIFORNIA IN TEN YEARS COMES TO VICTORVILLE | |||
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| VICTORVILLE APPROVES ITS SECOND MAJOR POWER PLANT AT SCLA | |||
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| VICTORVILLE TO GET A GIGANTIC 12 SCREEN MULTIPLEX CINEMA WITH 3400 STADIUM SEATS | |||
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| MALL OF VICTOR VALLEY AND ANOTHER RETAIL CENTER SOLD FOR $151.3 MILLION | |||
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| VICTORVILLE'S GREEN TREE INN SOLD FOR $10.2 MILLION | |||
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| VICTORVILLE TO GET NEW HILTON HOTEL AND CONVENTION CENTER | |||
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| VICTORVILLE GETS $13.5 MILLION APARTMENT COMPLEX | |||
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| VICTORVILLE CONTINUES TO ATTRACT MAJOR INDUSTRY AND JOBS | |||
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According to the Victorville Daily Press, April 2, 2006, the Developer who owns vacant land that was once part of the historic Kemper Campbell Ranch has received initial approval from the Victorville Planning Commission to build 650 homes in a 227-acre subdivision. The Project is planned between Hesperia Road and the Mojave Narrows near Seneca Road. The Developer plans to construct 7,200- to 35,000-square-foot lots with construction slated to begin in the next 12 months.
According to the Victorville Daily Press, June 24, 2006, the city of Victorville is about to get a 492-unit upscale apartment complex that has been named Seneca Apartments.” They are very high-end,” said Ryan McEachron, chairman of the planning commission, adding that they look like some of the apartments you would see near Victoria Gardens Shopping Center in Rancho Cucamonga.” We are aiming at the more affluent renter,” said Daniel Gyurec, Manager of DeVille Developments LLC. It is a class A product, and we’re trying to attract class A renters.
According to the Victorville Daily Press, May 14, 2005, construction will begin in June 2005 on one of the biggest commercial centers in the High Desert, creating hundreds of jobs and injecting millions of dollars into the local economy, city officials said Friday. Located at Civic and Roy Rogers drives, the retail hub will feature a Home Depot and much more.” This is a big project that has developed very quickly," Victorville Mayor Mike Rothschild said. "Home Depot will be the major tenant, but this Center will also house at least one high-end restaurant and other shops that will directly serve white-collar workers in the area." The Home Depot is the major anchor with 175,000 square feet and another 30,000 square feet for their outdoor garden area. This commercial development is in the process of acquiring all construction permits." The construction of the commercial center will have two phases. The Home Depot and other retail chains will comprise the first phase while the developer negotiates with other possible tenants for the second phase. Home Depot currently is located on Bear Valley Road and Balsam, and indicated that the company's intention is to keep both stores open in Victorville.” I think the new store could serve a different audience on the west side of the I-15 freeway.” "There is a lot of construction going on and this store can definitely serve that crowd."
According to the Victorville Daily Press, October 17, 2005, the massive addition of rooftops in the Victor Valley continues to attract national chains. Wickes will anchor a shopping center that will also have seven other businesses, including a restaurant, according to city officials. The new shopping center will be located at Amargosa and Kings Ranch roads, near Bank of America.
According to the Victorville Daily Press, May 21, 2005, a new $80 million retail center with 40 shops will soon break ground, creating approximately 800 retail jobs. The Victorville Pavilion will be home to such chains as Old Navy, Marshall's, Linens ‘n Things, Pat and Oscar's, Men's Warehouse, Michael's and the Shoe Pavilion, among others. The first phase of the 240,000-square-foot site west of Mall Boulevard along Bear Valley Road is expected to break ground by June 2005 and should be open by Christmas season, said development owner Gary Kanter. "We are still a long way from being done, but we have been able to attract major retail chains that recognize the growth and the opportunity for business that exists in the Victorville area."
According to the Daily Press, June 24, 2003, the city of Victorville is building an auto mall on the land previously occupied by the Roy Rogers-Dale Evans Museum. The property is situated between Interstate 15 and the soon-to-be-extended Civic Drive, and from the Victorville Superior Court north to Roy Rogers Drive. 
The museum building will be torn down and Civic Drive extended in the near future. Greiner Buick-Pontiac-GMC, Hi Desert Kia and Victorville Motors Inc. have committed to moving from their current locations to the planned mall space. Victorville City Councilman Mike Rothschild said the mall would connect with interstate 15 and use massive freeway signage to draw customers. The Vice President and General Manager of Victorville Motors, Tim Watts, said he hoped to be open by March 2004. Hi Desert Kia officials said they were aiming for an April 2004 opening date. Greiner Buick-Pontiac-GMC estimated doors would open by August 2004. City Councilman, Mike Rothschild, said that the 80 acres of city-owned land would be utilized for new-car dealerships because of their sales tax potential. "If you can have one type of business, you want new-car dealerships. They are the king of the sales tax," Rothschild said. "We need to remind people that we live off of our sales tax." The city levies no property taxes. "Car dealers are anxious to benefit from two factors that their new location will afford: visibility and proximity. "Dealerships typically tend to do better when they are grouped near a freeway," Watts said. He went on to say that his dealership would spend $5 million in the relocation, but felt that the benefit was worth it. High Desert Kia General Manager, David Choi said: "we're projecting a 50 percent growth rate after next year, after we move in, and 100 percent growth after a year." The enthusiasm for the mall is enormous on the part of these car dealers.
According to the San Bernardino Sun, April 23, 2003, the 
According to the Victorville Daily Press, March 12, 2005, the Victorville City
Council voted 3-0 to allocate $5 million for a permit to build a 500-megawatt
solar/gas-fired power plant near the existing 
According to the Victorville Daily Press, May 13, 2004, Cinemark will rip down its 1,700-seat theater at the Mall of Victor Valley and build a gigantic multiplex theatre with a dozen screens and 3,400 stadium seats. The Victorville Planning Commission gave its approval for the theatre project on May 12, 2004. The new Cinemark will also feature digital sound and other modern amenities. The current theatre of 1700 seats will be torn down and the new theatre will be located to the west of the present movie house. It is anticipated that demolition of the existing theatre shall begin this summer. Cinemark currently operates the Victor Valley's two theaters that were built several years ago and lack stadium seating. The new facility will be a first class movie house on the level of what is seen in the larger cities of Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange Counties. The advent of this new multiplex theatre reflects the impressive growth that is taking place in the Victor Valley.
According to the Victorville Daily Press, July 24, 2004, the Mall of Victor Valley has been sold for the second time in 15 months - a transaction the mall manager said is good for the mall and the community. The Macerich Co. announced Friday that it purchased the Mall of Victor Valley along with another shopping center in Santa Barbara for $151.3 million. The 60-acre Mall of Victor Valley is located at the Bear Valley interchange off the I-15 in Victorville, and has over 100 tenants that include J.C. Penny Co. Inc., Barnes & Noble and Mervyn's. The Seller, Somera, bought the 507,000-square-foot Mall of Victor Valley in April 2003 for $70 million. The Buyer, Macerich, now owns approximately 62 million square feet of rentable retail space, consisting primarily of interest in 62 regional malls, according to the company. Macerich owns 21 other malls in California, including the Inland Center in San Bernardino.” The company is extremely well-known and well thought of in the shopping center industry," she said. "The spin off of that reputation allows them to do business with truly quality merchants." The Mall's occupancy level is about 96 percent and specialty tenant sales per square foot are about $370 on an annual basis. Tenant sales per square foot have increased almost 6 percent a year on a compounded annual basis from 1997 to 2003, and are up 17 percent year to date through May 2004, according to Macerich Co.” We are very pleased to add these well located, Southern California malls to our portfolio," said Arthur Coppola, the president and chief executive officer of Macerich. "Victor Valley is a dominant regional mall in its trade area with in-place rents substantially below market and strong potential for growth through expansion."
According
to the Daily Press, October 3, 2003, a group of private investors,
led by Beverly Hills Attorney, Liza Torkan, purchased the Green Tree
Inn and Country Club for $10.2 million. The Green Tree Inn is located
on the southwest corner of Green Tree Boulevard and Seventh Street.
The Green Tree Inn will officially close escrow at noon today, according
to General Manager, Alison Cooper. "The new owners see both the
growth and the value of the High Desert," Cooper said. "They're
very committed to the Victor Valley and the Green Tree Inn."
Cooper said that the new owners plan on leaving the 200-room, 11-acre
inn essentially as it is, in terms of staff and structure - they foresee
no immediate additions to the building or property. They also intend
to remodel much of the Inn's interior, she added. The Green Tree Inn
was in escrow for only four months. Its quick closing shows the strength
of the real estate market in the Victorville area. 
According to the Daily Press, 11-14-03, Victorville is scheduled to get a new 139-room Hilton Hotel together with a 13,800 square foot Convention Center. Construction is scheduled to begin in February of 2004. The planned 13,800-square-foot Victorville Convention Center will seat between 700 and 800 people, said Builder Jack Moseley, of Moseley Construction in Riverside, and could accommodate simultaneous events. It would be next to Scandia Family Fun Center at the intersection of Mariposa Road and Cottonwood Avenue in Victorville. The city Planning Commission has already approved the development. Moseley is now preparing plans to be submitted to the city Building Department to secure a building permit. "Moseley said his company plans to use between 400 and 500 subcontractors, and up to 70 percent of these workers will be hired locally." This will be the Victor Valley's first Convention Center. The Hilton Hotel will be a four-story, 139-room Hilton Garden Inn, furnished with high-speed Internet access in each of its rooms, a business center, dining services, a pool, a spa and a gym. This is going to be the finest hotel in the Victor Valley. Hilton develops, owns, manages or franchises more than 2,100 hotels, resorts and vacation ownership properties.
According
to the Victorville Daily Press, 2-4-04, Victorville unveiled a brand-new
low-income housing project, Impressions at Valley Center, at 15500
Midtown Drive near the Roy Rogers interchange of Interstate 15. The
$13.5 million gated government housing project includes attractive
upgrades: a swimming pool, laundry facilities, a "tot lot"
and even computers for the kids to use. Two- and three-bedroom apartments
will rent for less than $600 a month, significantly less than the
going market rate. "We spared no expense," said Keith Metzler,
director of economic planning. "We wanted certain amenities for
this development and a first-class developer to ensure that it would
be without problems." The 100-apartment Impressions project comes
in at $135,000 a unit. "Nowadays $135,000 per apartment is a
reasonable construction cost," he said. "Of course, if the
apartments weren't federally subsidized, you'd want to charge $1,350
a month rent." Local developers are spending between $90,000
and $100,000 for each unit on apartment construction. 
According
to the San Bernardino Sun, March 4, 2004, many exciting developments
are taking place in Victorville. 2,000 new jobs have been created
at