Highland Fairview Breaks Ground on Future Skechers Home

March 23, 2010
By Allison Landa, News Editor

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger presided over the groundbreaking of Highland Fairview Corporate Park in Rancho Belago, Calif., which developer Highland Fairview says will be the largest green building of its kind in the U.S.

Footwear company Skechers USA, Inc. has inked a lease agreement for a 2.6 million square-foot logistics facility at the property. According to Highland Fairview, the deal is the largest industrial lease transaction by one tenant in a single U.S. facility.

“I am excited to be here because this means growth and this means jobs, and I think there’s one thing that is clear – and that is that we need more jobs,” Schwarzenegger said at the groundbreaking, noting that Riverside County has a 15 percent unemployment rate. “And so when you see a company that has the courage, in this economic downturn, to go and expand and to build and to develop a development like this one right here … that is to me something that ought to be celebrated.”

A Trump company, Highland Fairview also saw co-chairmen Eddie Trump and Jules Trump at the groundbreaking, as well as company president and CEO Iddo Benzeevi.

The property is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2011. It will be fully automated, allowing the company to receive, store, retrieve, pack and ship using a high-tech material handling system. The center will also consolidate five existing Southern California facilities.

Green design elements include solar energy, water conservation and reduced energy consumption through natural lighting, ventilation, and specialized water quality and storm water programs. The park is expected to generate $194 million in annual revenue along with creating more than 1,100 short-term construction jobs and an estimated 3,050 permanent jobs at build-out.

Highland Fairview and its affiliate companies currently own five square miles of properties in California.