On Thursday, June 3, Fillmore River View LLC, the partnership made up of several developers responsible for the Fillmore Business Park Project held an informational meeting for the community at the Senior Center in Fillmore. Over 30 residents and local business owners came to hear the presentation. Presenter, Ray Harper of KDF Communities, one of the developers, believes that Fillmore with the addition of this Business Park is ideally situated to attract some large and diverse companies, bringing with them jobs at all levels of pay, expertise and skill.

What Happens Next?

As the development phase of the project is complete, the phase of a joint venture group taking possession in now in process. The project is currently in escrow with a joint venture group consisting of PacTen Partners and The Southwest Carpenters Pension Fund. According to Harper, both of these groups fund their projects with cash, so there is no dependence on approval from any lender or need for a line of credit. If things progress on schedule escrow will close in the next few months, and at that time the venture group will begin the process of developing building plans, obtaining contractors, and receiving necessary permits from the City for Phase One of the project. Phase One will consist of nine separate buildings on 7.76 acres; totaling 122,162 square feet of interior space being built according to previously approved master plans. The process of obtaining permits generally is a back and forth ongoing event between the City and the venture group that may take several months of negotiating.

How will this project benefit Fillmore?

Fillmore residents and business owners at the meeting asked questions regarding who will fill the space and what sort of business the park will attract. While there will be a few small retail and office spaces included in Phase One, the majority of the space will be devoted to “Tilt-up” large industrial space. Harper stated that in the end there would be approximately 1600 new jobs at the business park. That also means revenue for the City and existing local businesses. Based on a study conducted by CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. showing that activity involving corporate real estate has increased four fold for the first quarter in 2010 compared to last year, Harper is confident that companies will be attracted to this project for the location and state of the art facilities. Former Fillmore City Manager Ron Payne was on hand to support the optimistic outlook for the park.

Overall the residents of the City of Fillmore seem to have mixed feelings about the business park. Some are enthusiastic about the opportunity for new jobs and increased revenue in the local economy, while others are wary of a “build it and they will come” mentality. Since this project has been approved, and is moving forward, time will tell if the companies will come as the developers expect.