Ontario Mills enters new era

With 18 new stores, five relocations and 10 remodels this year so far, the Ontario Mills mall seems to be undergoing a sort of rebirth.

Owned by Simon Property Group since late March, the outlet mall, which opened in 1996, is seeing some updates.

Sue Oxarart, marketing director for Ontario Mills, however, said the recent changes and improvements are the result of the mall's decade-long existence.

"A lot of leases have five- or 10-year terms," Oxarart said. "Once the mall celebrates its 10th anniversary with the renewal of leases, you start to see quite a facelift and remodel to some of these stores. If a store wants to stay with us another 10 years, sometimes there's a requirement to remodel the store."

Many brand-name stores have been appearing, too.

"Every year you see new stores and changes, but this has been a great year for new tenants," Oxarart said. "It's been dynamic since January. When you have that many new stores, it's pretty dramatic all at once."

New arrivals since the beginning of the year include Banana Republic Factory Store, Abercrombie Outlet, Aldo Shoes, BCBG Maxazria, Daniel's Jewelers, Via Havana and Victoria's Secret - which will open in a few weeks, among others.

Oxarart attributed the mall's new stores to the efforts of leasing teams and requests from customers.

Two oft-requested stores are Lane Bryant and Jones of New York - both of which are in discussions with the mall's leasing representatives, she said.

Since its opening, Ontario Mills - which defines itself as a discount value mall distinct from Rancho Cucamonga's outdoor lifestyle center, Victoria Gardens - has been wildly successful, said Greg Devereaux, Ontario city manager.

The 24 million shoppers who visited the mall in 2006 overshadowed attendance even at Disneyland, which had 14.73 million visitors the same year.

"It's been a very successful mall," Devereaux said. "At the time it opened, it was the primary shopping and entertainment experience out here in the Inland Empire."

But before Simon Property Group's acquisition of Ontario Mills and other assets from the struggling Mills Corp. earlier this year, some residents and city officials had grown disenchanted with the mall.

"From a sales standpoint, the mall continued to be successful. But I don't think it was maintained as well as we would've liked," Devereaux said, adding the landscaping was neglected and storefronts looked inconsistent in recent years.

Ultimately, Mills Corp. had been in a financial crisis, and some say the company started to invest resources in new properties rather than in maintaining existing ones.

Devereaux said he is confident the Simon Property Group will keep the mall looking sharp.

"I've never seen a Simon property that wasn't maintained in a first-class condition," Devereaux said. "So I believe Simon will address that."

Les Morris, spokesman for Simon Property Group, recently said the company was still evaluating all of its new properties - including Ontario Mills.

"We've proven over the years that we can bring value to properties we acquire," Morris said. "Malls don't stay the same. They either get better or they get worse, and we're laser-focused on improving every property we have."

Morris said, however, there were no plans yet for changes, and no further details could be disclosed.

In the past few weeks, new pygmie palm trees, rockscapes and lights were installed around the property to replace trampled grass and bare planters, Oxarart said.

Oxarart said Ontario Mills' storefronts are a lot more consistent and up-to-date today.

"When Ontario Mills first opened in 1996, everything was new at the same time, there were a lot of bright colors and neon, and the theme reflected 1996," Oxarart said. "As new stores were brought in, they had a totally different look, so there was a transition. Now, there's a cleaner, sharper edge that's updated."

With new ownership and shifting demographics in Ontario - and, consequently, Ontario Mills' market - more changes could be afoot.

Devereaux said he'd like to see the property used differently in the future.

"Another disappointment was that (Mills Corp.) didn't look at taking advantage of the property, such as mixed-use opportunities," Devereaux said. "I think, given the amount of land there, there's potential for additional offices, hotels, residential, maybe even retail."

One way to utilize all that space is by putting in parking structures, he said.

"As the Inland Empire matures as a real-estate market, flat parking fields become more valuable developed than left flat, and I think that's part of the examination Simon will do," Devereaux said.

Although Simon representatives could not comment on those ideas, there are factors that will inevitably change things for the mall.

Oxarart said Ontario Mills' primary market consists of people living within 22 miles to the west, seven miles to the north and 25 miles to the south and to the east.

With all the development coming to the city - including a substantial amount of Class A office space and higher-end residential units - Ontario Mills' market is sure to change.

Some of the newest stores - such as Via Havana, which opened a few weeks ago and sells hand-rolled cigars - already reflect that future market.

"The demographic is changing, along with income levels," Oxarart said. "And that's why you're starting to see more brand names now in Ontario Mills."

Quality One buys building for $1.3M

Quality One Engineering, a computer-engineering firm, purchased a 10,140-square-foot industrial building in Ontario for $1.3 million, Grubb & Ellis announced.

This is an expansion for the company, which also owns a 13,154-square-foot building in Ontario. Quality One Engineering has already occupied the concrete tilt-up building, which is located at 2182 Maple Privado. The property was sold by a private investor.

Mitch Fisher and Richard Schwartz of Grubb & Ellis' Ontario office represented the buyer in the transaction. John Boyer of NAI Capital represented the seller.

Office space sector strong

Contrary to a slowing housing market, office and industrial development is moving full speed ahead in the Inland Empire.

But these aren't your average Inland Empire buildings, and they're attracting more than just blue-collar workers.

Within the concrete tilt-up warehouse and multistory office projects popping up all over the region, a new type of professional work-space is making the region its home, according to local researchers who study the subject.

Class A office space might look like skyscrapers in downtown Los Angeles, but in places like Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario, these buildings come in four- and five-story, glossy-looking edifices that tower above swaths of strip malls and major thoroughfares.

"They've taken off in the last five or six years at warp speed," said Mary Sullivan, a research analyst with Grubb & Ellis Company, a commercial real-estate advisory firm.

For most of the Inland Empire's work-space history, office and industrial developments came in small pockets of development, Sullivan said.

They were a step down from Class A, commonly referred to as Class B or C. You'd notice new construction projects, but they were few and far in between, and they didn't incorporate a mixed-use theme, she said.

But things have changed - big time.

You can now easily find high-end office and industrial space all over San Bernardino and Riverside counties, Sullivan said.

Redlands, San Bernardino, Riverside, Corona, Chino Hills and Diamond Bar are on this list of new work-space construction, where companies from Los Angeles and Orange counties are establishing office branches and attracting both white-collar and blue-collar workers.

According to the most recent Grubb & Ellis' quarterly "Office Market Trends Inland Empire" report, Class A, B and C office vacancy rates have hovered around 7 percent from summer 2005 to spring of this year, and have now risen to about 9 percent. Anything below 10 percent is considered a strong market.

Several of these new buildings are in high demand, pulling in big leases before construction is complete, Sullivan said.

"(It is) a real good barometer in the real-estate market," she said. "We've just kind of, in the last two years, hit our stride. Tenants are recognizing this as a place they want to be."

"Now, (office space) is timed to be here," said John Husing, a Redlands-based regional economist. "Once it hits, it never stops. From now on, it'll be an important part of the market."

Husing noted a couple of facts. Out of recent office construction across Orange, San Diego and Los Angeles counties, the Inland Empire has the greatest share, more than 35 percent. Compare this to 2003, when that number was near zero.

Throughout the late 1990s, builders spent $50 million to $60 million a year building office space here, Husing said. In 2006, they spent almost $308 million.

"It's a very recent phenomenon in the last 31/2 years," he said. "It wasn't there. Now, all of a sudden, it is."

What's also attracting office tenants is that an increasing amount of office buildings are being constructed near other types of developments, Sullivan said.

"You have an office building, and you may have next to that a hotel, and then some live-work lofts," she said. "It's not your stand-alone office product anymore. We're moving to a much more sophisticated product."

While the demand for Class A office space seems unstoppable for now, property construction and realty investment companies will no doubt be keeping a close eye on the local housing market's ripple effects into areas of office construction, Sullivan said.

Message from the Chairwoman of the Board

Greetings! I expected a busy chamber year, and the first few weeks of my term as chair have confirmed those expectations!

We enjoyed a classy, elegant Inaugural Gala on June 29th at the Marriott. Roses, wine, delicious food and great camaraderie were the order of the evening. Many thanks to San Bernardino County Supervisor Gary Ovitt, Ontario Mayor Paul Leon and Cal State Vice-President William Aguilar, PhD, for their attendance and participation. Kudos also to the chamber staff for such a first-class event.

The chamber was proud to participate in the City of Ontario’s 4^th of July Celebration. I was amazed at the number of residents and friends of the city who gathered to watch the 4^th of July parade on a perfectly patriotic summer morning.

On July 13, the chamber board convened our annual planning session, held at the Kaiser Permanente Ontario Vineyard Medical Offices. (These offices are beautiful with many state-of-the-art features, if I do say so myself!) We spent an entire day getting to know each other a bit better and setting our priorities for our new chamber year. We had an outstanding facilitator for this meeting in Jeff Sandford of the Texarkana Chamber of Commerce. Jeff was skilled at helping us keep our mottos, Be Relevant, Add Value and Sharpen the Focus, in the forefront as we whittled our BIG priority list into a list of three priorities upon which we can begin immediate work.

Those priorities are: 1) continue our financial growth/stabilization, 2) reinstitute the form and function of our chamber Foundation and 3) expand our regional strategic partnerships. The tactics we will employ to achieve these goals are too numerous to mention in this column, but will prove to be exciting, innovative and most of all, effective!

Along with our focus on our priorities this year, we will also sharpen our protocols, ensuring a polished and professional presentation and representation at each of our events. And we will explore methods and packages to make your chamber membership even more valuable.

So, a busy start to a busy year - what could be better? Be sure to log onto our website at www.ontario.org to keep apprised of all our events and opportunities.

IE attracting professional buildings - and employees

Contrary to a slowing housing market, office and industrial development is moving full steam ahead in the Inland Empire, showing no signs of a slowdown.

But these aren't your average Inland Empire buildings, and they're not attracting your average workers.

Within the concrete tilt-up warehouse and multi-story projects popping up all over the region, a new stride of professional workspace is making the region its home, according to local researchers who study the subject.

"Class A" office space might look like sky scrapers in downtown Los Angeles, but in places like Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Riverside and San Bernardino, these buildings come in four- and five-story, glossy-looking edifices that tower above swaths of strip malls and major thoroughfares.

Future of SoCal water considered in Ontario

ONTARIO - Purple pipe could be one answer.

We already have as much water we're going to get, but California's population will keep exploding.

Roughly 800 elected officials, developers and others spent the day Thursday at a conference discussing how the growing region can keep faucets from going dry when water supplies may actually diminish.

Conservation and recycling will be key to keeping millions of new residents from going thirsty.

Expanding the use of recycled water into homes would allow existing supplies to go much further.

John Young, president of Young Homes and the Building Industry Association of Southern California, talked to one developer who is already installing purple pipe in new homes on the expectation that it will one day become mandatory.

Pipe that carries highly treated wastewater is colored purple and could be used for watering landscape and filling toilets.

Installing a dual plumbing system doesn't add much to the cost if it's done when a house is being built.

Australia, which like the western United States is in the middle of a fierce drought, is aggressively recycling water, including building homes that have such dual plumbing, said

Mark Gray, director of environmental affairs for the Building Industry Association.

Rainwater is also captured and storm runoff is directed into areas where it can percolate back into the groundwater, he said.

Doing that here means policymakers, especially counties and cities, must adopt regulations so projects are designed to capture and use every possible drop of water, most panelists agreed.

"Tell us what to do. Give us meaningful advice," said Randall Lewis, executive vice president of Lewis Operating Co., one of the region's most active developers.

He called for a broad education campaign aimed at both the public and government officials to encourage policies for using water more efficiently.

About 60 percent of domestic potable water is used to water lawns and irrigate landscaping.

That has to change, said Susan Lien Longville, director of the Water Resources Institute at Cal State San Bernardino.

"A growing water source is all the people moving here. They all produce waste water," she said.

That water can be treated and used for most purposes other than drinking, she said.

County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who helped organize the conference, pledged to work on the issues discussed.

Morongo Valley already has incentives in place for installing gray water systems, which puts water from sinks and showers into a tank for use in irrigation, said Mike Reynolds, a contractor and president of the Morongo Basin chapter of the Building Industry Association.

Two hospitals to be big gain for Ontario

It's still four years away, but the prospect of Ontario having two full-service hospitals is welcome indeed.

Ontario is already a booming city of 175,000, with expectations that its population will approach 300,000 by the time the New Model Colony is built out over the next couple of decades. Clearly, a city of that size needs a hospital. Two would be better.

Kaiser Permanente plans to open by early 2011 a 224-bed hospital on Vineyard Avenue just north of the 60 Freeway, where it now has medical offices and a ambulatory surgical center. That hospital will offer acute care, emergency services and a full spectrum of specialty care, according to Kaiser.

Also on the books is a 200-plus-bed private hospital on Haven Avenue south of the 10 Freeway. That hospital would be built by Pomona physician Dr. Jeereddi Prasad as part of the Ontario Gateway development, whose final maps are in the approval process. Prasad sold his Ontario-based ProMed Health Services, an independent physician association, to Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. recently and now sits on Prospect's board.

Lack of access to health-care and hospital facilities has long been a complaint of Ontario residents. Mayor Paul Leon has advocated for a downtown health clinic, which has not happened yet, but DV Urgent Care has opened in the northwest part of the city. DV Urgent Care is operated in conjunction with the radiology department at San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland.

Dora Barilla, executive director of Healthy Ontario, a citywide initiative concerned with access to health care, called the new urgent-care center "the first step into health-care needs for the community." Barilla said Ontario needs accessible and affordable primary care, urgent care and clinics cooperating with one another, to reduce the over-reliance on emergency rooms to handle problems that should be treated in nonemergency facilities.

Healthy Ontario is working on a comprehensive strategic health-care plan that should be ready early next year, Barilla said.

There are and will be many health-care needs besides hospitals for Ontario's growing population. But it's great news for the community to have two hospitals on the way.