Crow Holdings JV to Develop 1.8 MSF San Diego Industrial Campus

Rendering of Otay Business Park. Image courtesy of Cushman & Wakefield

Elevation Land Co., in partnership with a real estate fund advised by Crow Holdings Capital, has announced plans to develop Otay Business Park, a 1.8 million-square-foot industrial campus in San Diego. The project is considered one of the largest distribution developments in Southern California.

The joint venture acquired 263 acres of land for $165 million from Paragon Co. in the second quarter of 2022. The industrial park will rise on 119 acres, while several other parcels will be necessary to develop roadways through the site, including 68 acres of on-mesa biological mitigation land and 76 acres of off-mesa non-native grasslands.

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The Cushman & Wakefield team of Brant Aberg, Ryan Downing and Trent Smith will oversee leasing at the industrial campus. The company’s Bryce Aberg, Jeff Chiate, Jeff Cole, Zachary Harman and Brant Aberg represented the seller in the land purchase transaction.

An industrial campus near the border

The first phase of construction will consist of five buildings totaling approximately 1 million square feet, scheduled for completion in the second half of 2024. The second phase will encompass 770,000 square feet across three warehouses, with delivery expected in late 2025. The project is planned for speculative development, although buildings can also be delivered on a build-to-suit basis to cater to specific occupier needs.

When complete, the industrial campus will include facilities ranging from 45,000 to 500,000 square feet with 32- to 36-foot clear heights. The property will feature more than 325 dock-high loading positions, 16 grade-level doors and more than 175 trailer stalls.

Situated within Foreign Trade and HUB Zones, the development site is north and south of the future Siempre Viva Road connection to State Route 11 in Otay Mesa, San Diego’s largest industrial submarket. Downtown San Diego is some 20 miles away.

The industrial campus will be close to the international border with Mexico, with State Route 11 and Freeway 905 providing connections to Tijuana International Airport and the planned Otay Mesa East Port of Entry border crossing. The surrounding area features Amazon and FedEx facilities, as well as other logistics and distribution centers.

San Diego industrial development

Cushman & Wakefield Vice Chairman Brant Aberg said, in prepared remarks, that Otay Business Park will have connections to domestic and international destinations, in a market with high demand for industrial space. According to CommercialEdge data, San Diego had 38 industrial projects in various stages of development as of February, set to add more than 4.4 million square feet to the existing inventory.

Last year in October, a joint venture between Industrial Realty Group and Belzberg & Co. unveiled plans to redevelop 331 acres at San Diego’s Brown Field Municipal Airport. The $1 billion project is expected to be built over 20 years.