SAN DIEGO – With nearly 3 million square feet of office and industrial buildings developed or acquired, H.G. Fenton Company’s reputation as one of San Diego’s most reliable turnkey developers is growing.  By 2020, the company expects that its industrial development portfolio will top 4 million square feet, providing homes for more than 400 businesses throughout San Diego County.

“We are very proud of our reputation as a ‘go to’ developer and are actively seeking more land to meet the needs of our San Diego tenants,” said Geoff Swortwood, director of commercial development with H.G. Fenton Company.  “While we are very well known for million-square-foot-plus master-planned communities that we develop on land we own, in recent years we have expanded our focus to include smaller undertakings as well.  The projects we develop, either for ourselves or others help provide jobs and turn underutilized parcels of land into well-planned business environments for San Diego companies.”

H.G. Fenton Company recently broke ground on the first phase of its Fenton Technology Park in Sorrento Mesa, central San Diego’s newest – and one of its only – master-planned business parks to be developed in the foreseeable future.  The 130.9-acre campus will ultimately create up to 5,000 new jobs through the phased development of nearly 1 million square feet of industrial, office and technology uses over several years, including the new corporate headquarters for Biosite Incorporated (Nasdaq: BSTE).

“With a limited supply of employment land remaining in the central area of San Diego County, Fenton Technology Park will help meet near-term demand for buildable lots, build-to-suit as well as multi-tenant space,” said Kevin Hill, vice president of leasing with H.G. Fenton Company.  “It also dedicates 36 acres of land for permanent open space and adds a vital linkage between Mira Mesa Boulevard and Miramar Road through the north-south extension of Camino Santa Fe.”

Currently, H.G. Fenton Company is proceeding with plans to develop Phases 1 and 2 of Fenton Technology Park, for a total of seven buildings with up to 125,024 square feet.  It is also marketing a 17-acre site in the project that is designated for build-to-suits and which can accommodate either a single tenant campus or several large requirements between 300,000 and 500,000 square feet.

“Our philosophy has always been to develop our projects in such a way that we offer flexibility and a variety of options to our tenants,” said Hill.  “As a result, we have many tenants who have relocated from one of our projects to another as their businesses have grown.  We value these relationships, and work hard to earn their continuing loyalty through the provision of a high level of customer service and well-maintained and managed projects.”

According to Swortwood, one of H.G. Fenton Company’s greatest attributes is its ability to develop facilities to the tenant’s specifications, regardless of complexity, and complete them on time and on budget.  Some of the most recent examples include a 30,000-square-foot orthopaedic center that incorporated both medical office space for California Orthopaedic Institute and an outpatient surgery center for Mission Valley Surgery Center, and a state-of-the-art, 75,000-square-foot campus for the Art Institute of California.  All of these facilities are located in Mission Valley Heights, a 1-million-square-foot business park that was master planned and developed by H.G. Fenton Company near the Friars Road and 163 Freeway interchange.

Mission Valley Heights is nearing build out, with two speculative buildings totaling 75,000 square feet now under way on the last available lot in the project, and a 26,000-square-foot San Diego headquarters for Stewart Title that will be complete in September 2004.  “This new facility will increase our office size by approximately 32% percent, allowing us to efficiently manage expected growth over the next five years,” said Loretta Granger-Medrano, San Diego division president of Stewart Title.  “We are looking forward to the added benefits of the new location, including better parking and office access.”  Currently, Stewart Title employs 112 people.

In addition to Fenton Technology Park, new undertakings by H.G. Fenton Company include its recent acquisition of the largest remaining piece of employment land located west of El Camino Real in Carlsbad.  The 53-acre parcel is located on El Camino Real at the future extension of Salk Avenue, and will be co-developed by H.G. Fenton Company and Newport National Corporation into an exclusive office and R&D business community totaling approximately 400,000 square feet.

“With a strategic location on the northeastern rim of the popular master-planned Carlsbad Research Center, the project offers spectacular back county views to the west, north and east,” said Hill.  “This parcel does not have the same Average Daily Trip (ADT) constraints as many of the new developments in Carlsbad, and therefore can accommodate a wider variety of companies.  This is significant considering there is a limited supply of available land for development in Carlsbad, and will allow us to meet the space needs of growth-oriented companies who currently have few options to choose from.”

The yet-to-be-named project is being designed to offer companies a superior business location in one of the North County’s most desirable areas, and will accommodate everything from small office needs to large single- or multi-building users.  Grading is expected to begin in September 2004, with construction on the first phase expected in early 2005.

H.G. Fenton Company also recently acquired Carlsbad Corporate Center, which includes two existing industrial buildings totaling 150,173 square feet, as well as an adjacent finished parcel of 8.27 net acres.

The company plans to develop an additional 105,000 square feet of speculative multi-tenant space on the adjoining parcel.  Atlas Distribution, a division of K2 Sports, has already leased one of the existing buildings.  The second facility, with 76,693 square feet, is available for lease.

“We are very committed to serving the needs of small- to mid-size growth oriented firms as well as larger tenants, particularly in areas like Carlsbad that are recognized as entrepreneurial start-up centers,” said Hill.  In addition to Carlsbad Corporate Center, H.G. Fenton Company owns four other business centers in Carlsbad.

H.G. Fenton Company’s real estate focus also includes providing San Diegans with well-located and well-maintained places to live through the acquisition and/or development of apartment communities.  Currently, the company owns eight existing communities totaling 2,119 units in key areas of the county, and is nearing completion on a new 396-unit luxury apartment community in Mission Valley called Portofino.

H.G. Fenton Company offices are located at 7588 Metropolitan Dr. in the company’s Mission Valley Heights project in San Diego.