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.”

H.G. Fenton Company recently broke ground on the first phase of its Fenton Technology Park in north Miramar, 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 offer nearly 1 million square feet of industrial, office and technology uses through phased development 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 Lots 5 and 6 in Fenton Technology Park.  The parcels total 17 acres, which can accommodate either a single tenant campus or several large requirements between 300,000 and 600,000 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 Swortwood.  “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.

New developments under way by H.G. Fenton Company include a 26,000-square-foot San Diego headquarters for Stewart Title in Mission Valley Heights that will be complete in July 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.

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.

Additionally, H.G. Fenton Company has begun speculative development of a two building, two-story office project totaling approximately 74,000 square feet on the last available lot in Mission Valley Heights.  The 1-million-square-foot business park was master planned and developed by H.G. Fenton Company near the Friars Road and 163 Freeway interchange.  Completion of this new facility is expected in January 2005.  The 74,000 square foot project is the last development lot, completing the buildout of Mission Valley Heights.

“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,” said Swortwood.  “Fenton Technology Park alone will provide up to 5,000 new jobs over the next few years.”

In addition to its existing industrial real estate portfolio, H.G. Fenton Company owns several development parcels and 2,119 apartment units in eight communities throughout San Diego County:  It is also under construction on a new 396-unit luxury apartment community in Mission Valley called Portofino.

“We are growing our commercial and residential portfolios with high quality properties that provide the community with convenient, accessible and well-maintained places to work and live,” Hill said.

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