Victorville multimodal center hunting for Chinese investment

Victorville multimodal center hunting for Chinese investment Victorville Mayor Terry Caldwell and City Manager John Roberts continue their search this week in China for $100 million in foreign investment funds to kick-start projects at the Southern California Logistics Airport.
   City officials said last week that because traditional funding sources may not be available, 20,000 local jobs and $1.6 billion in total development connected to the SCLA project are contingent on Chinese funds being found soon.
   Caldwell and Roberts, working with CBM Investment Group, are seeking funds for four keystone projects at SCLA, including construction of a BNSF rail spur at the facility, street and utility upgrades, a wastewater treatment facility, and a power plant to provide power to the complex.
   “The city needs this funding to jump-start projects that will later provide the cash flow to repay the loan,” noted Inland Empire economist John Husing, in an impact study on the Chinese investments.
   Victorville officials are using a carrot-and-stick approach to lure potential Chinese investors, with the U.S. EB-5 program playing the main role.
   Under the federal plan, foreign investors in U.S. businesses can receive priority green cards allowing them to migrate to America. The goal of the effort is to lure 200 Chinese investors to put up $500,000 each toward the SCLA project. Without the investments, Husing said, several of the infrastructure programs may be delayed, resulting in the loss of potential tenants such as a major Coca Cola subsidiary bottling facility.
   Critics of the plan to attract foreign investment in the SCLA development told the Victorville Daily Press that the project has yet to produce any solid tenant commitments, including BNSF.
   However, last year Atlanta-based manufacturer Rubbermaid signed a 10-year, $15 million deal to lease a custom-built bulk distribution center at the SCLA. Rubbermaid was SCLA's first signed tenant and the manufacturer's 407,612-square-foot facility, which opened in November, was the first new structure built at the SCLA complex. Two additional projects at SCLA are also under way, including the construction of two multitenant buildings and a 296,000-square-foot distribution building.
   Caldwell and Roberts, who have not reported any firm commitments resulting from their trip, are both expected to return later this week.
   The San Bernardino area lost thousands of jobs when the former military airbase closed in 1992. With federal assistance, local officials developed a reuse plan to convert the base into a logistics center. Under development by Stirling Capital Investments and the Victorville city government for nearly eight years, the proposed 8,500-acre SCLA project would convert the former air base into one of the largest combined rail, ground and air transportation centers on the West Coast. The complex could one day involve 65 million square feet of development and generate 13,000 jobs.
   A deal with BNSF Railway Co. to build a 3,500-acre rail yard at the SCLA is being negotiated.
   Phase I development at SCLA is being supported through a $350 million investment from SCI, a joint venture between Foothill Ranch, Calif.-based development company Stirling Enterprises and Denver-based industrial real estate investment trust firm DCT Industrial Trust Inc. ' Keith Higginbotham