july 22-august 4, 2014 section b

2014 FOCUS ON THE

City Of Carson

Pictured: Carson Mayor Jim Dear, left, andCarson City Manager Nelson Hernandez.

2014CarsonFocusCovers_SaluteToFoster 7/18/14 12:49 PM

2014CarsonFocusCovers_SaluteToFoster 7/18/14 12:49 PM

� By BRANDON FERGUSON

Staff Writer

T he private sector in the City ofCarson is humming with activityas large-scale projects, such as

the Porsche Driving Experience and a new13-screen Cinemark theater, inch closer tocompletion. In addition, recent retail andrestaurant openings have created jobs andincreased consumer choice as Carson con-tinues to grow its business sector. “I’m leading the charge to transform

Carson from a bedroom/industrial commu-nity into a destination community,” MayorJim Dear told the Business Journal. “Weare on track with increasing the number ofjob-producing projects.”With a city that is currently made up of

54 percent industrial businesses, many ofwhich rely on consistent power, Dear alsosaid that he plans to work closely withSouthern California Edison (SCE) to tryto attract more high-tech businesses toCarson by designating a section of the cityto offer reliable, uninterrupted power. Heexplained that power outages, even shortones, can be disastrous for companies pro-ducing items like circuit boards.“You know, if Edison cuts your power

off for less than 30 seconds, that’s not apower outage in its view,” Dear noted.“But if you’re a manufacturer of high-techcircuit boards and the power shuts downand the circuit board is destroyed, thenthat’s a power outage. Circuit boards canrun $50,000.”Working with SCE to offer consistent

power can help Carson attract business,Dear explained. “Then we can advertise,‘You put your business in Carson, andyou’ll have reliable energy,’” Dear said.When asked about Carson’s overall busi-

ness climate, Dear was optimistic. “Wehave lots and lots of ribbon cuttings hap-pening, and there are more to come. Youcould say the best is yet to come,” he said,adding that many businesses are doing wellthanks to foreign investment. “We reallyhave a lot of opportunity in Carson with di-rect foreign investment coming into the city,primarily from China, but also from Japan,Korea and Vietnam,” Dear explained.

He said that local businesses use the fed-eral program known as EB5, which pro-vides permanent residence opportunities toforeign investors who invest at least $1 mil-lion into commercial enterprises. Dearspecifically mentioned American LogisticsInternational, which makes use of EB5money. “They keep expanding their busi-ness with all this influx of funds and creat-ing jobs,” Dear noted.While new investment continues to sup-

port the private sector, the public sector isbenefitting from new leadership. On May7, Carson welcomed Nelson Hernandez asits city manager. Hernandez has served thepublic for 30 years at the federal and statelevels, with stints at the U.S. Department ofUrban Housing and Development (HUD)and at the City of Los Angeles. In a meeting at his office, Hernandez told

the Business Journal that Carson is cur-rently sitting on a $36 million budget re-serve in addition to $72 million in itsgeneral fund. “The city has done a verygood job of being fiscally prudent for

years,” he said. “We have a healthy reserve,but there’s always pressure on the generalfund because expenses go up and we’re justcoming out of the economic crisis.”Both Dear and Hernandez explained that

Carson benefits from a prime location.“Carson has a lot going for it,” Hernandezsaid. “It’s got a great labor force, and it’sgot great transportation networks with free-ways and rail ports, not just sea ports, butairports on either side of us. It’s well lo-cated.” The city is served by four freeways:the 405, 91, 10 and 710.Describing the changes that the city has

undergone in the last 10 years, Mayor Dearsaid that Carson didn’t even have a Star-bucks when he first took office in 2004.After a chance encounter at a social eventwith Magic Johnson, who at the time heldinterests in Starbucks, Dear said he sug-gested the coffee vendor come to Carson.As a result, “[Johnson] opened two [Star-

bucks stores] in Carson – both very suc-cessful. So naturally the corporate peoplesaid, ‘Ok, we’re going to put more Star-bucks in Carson,’” Dear said.He also remembered that when the

2014 | FOCUS ON CARSONLong Beach Business Journal Page 1

(Please Continue To Next Page)

As Carson Welcomes New Businesses,Mayor Dear Says ‘The Best Is Yet To Come’

Jim Dear, left, was elected to the Carson City Council in 2001, and in 2004 won a special election to serve as mayor of the five-member city council. Hewas elected to a full four-year term as mayor a year later, reelected in 2009 and again in 2013. Nelson Hernandez, center, was hired by the city council inMay to serve as city manager. Mayor Pro Tempore Elito M. Santarina was elected to the city council in 2003, reelected in 2007 and again in 2011. The re-maining city councilmembers are Lula Davis-Holmes, who has served since 2007; Mike A. Gipson, first elected in 2009; and Albert Robles, elected last year.(Photograph by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville)

Inside 2014 Focus On CarsonThank you to the following companies whose advertisementsmade this section possible: California Water Service Co.; Car-son Chamber of Commerce; California State University,Dominguez Hills; California State University, Dominguez Hills,University Advancement; The Carson Center; The Carson Com-panies; Gardena-Carson Family YMCA; Kaiser PermanenteCarson Medical Offices; NuVision Federal Credit Union; South-Bay Pavilion; Tesoro; and Watson Land Company.

Photographs All photographs by Long Beach Business Journal Photojournalist Thomas McConville

2014 Focus On Carson Published July 22, 2014, bythe Long Beach Business Journal, a publication of South Coast

Publishing, incorporated in California in 1985.2599 E. 28th Street, Suite 212, Signal Hill, CA 90755

Phone: 562/988-1222 • Website: lbbusinessjournal.com

1_CarsonFocusJuly2013_Final_Layout 1 7/18/14 6:31 PM Page 1

restaurant Chili’s came to Carson severalyears ago, it was the first name-brandrestaurant to open in the city in 17 years.Today, the Carson location continues to bea top performer for the chain. “That showedthe restaurant industry that Carson is the lo-cation,” Dear said. Currently, new eateries continue to open

in the SouthBay Pavilion and Dear indi-cated more are coming. “You will see a se-ries of new restaurants opening in Carsonin the next few years, one after the other,”he said. “Carson is a great location if you’rethinking of opening a business. The futureis really bright for our city. Carson is goingto be at the forefront as an example that isgoing to be a success story.” �

Carson BusinessCommunityContinues

To Improve Post-Recession


Staff Writer

A ccording to Carson Chamber ofCommerce President John

Wogan, things have improved for the busi-ness community since the recession ended.“Things have gotten better. We have

freight forwarders that we deal with andduring the recession you never saw them.Now [they’re] much busier, sending outgoods and so forth,” Wogan said.In addition to new restaurants and attrac-

tions coming on line, Alcoa Fastening sys-tems is growing its Carson operation. “Alcoa Fastening Systems has expanded

its manufacturing operations in Carson,with the addition of an 85,000-square-foot

building adjacent to its current location,”according to an e-mail from companyspokeswoman Anne Brown. “The facilityexpects to create approximately 100 newjobs over the next three years.”Wogan cites Carson’s key location as

the main factor attracting businesses tothe city. “You’ve got everything around us.Two airports, LAX, Long Beach,” he said,adding that he sees a golden opportunityin the Boulevards at South Bay mixed usedevelopment.

“We’ve got this opportunity to make thisBoulevard more than big box,” he said, ex-plaining that he’d like to see some of thearea developed into a convention center.The business community is concerned,

however, with the city’s 2 percent utility tax,which was enacted during the height of therecession, Wogan said. Though the tax is setto expire in 2016, the city is considering aballot measure to extend it. Wogan said thatwith the city’s $36 million surplus, the taxshould be allowed to sunset.“The business community helped the city

during a tough time, the recession. But the2 percent utility user’s tax should not be onthe ballot again. We want to attract busi-ness. We don’t want to scare businessaway,” Wogan said.

Retail And RestaurantsAt the SouthBay Pavilion, Carson’s shop-

ping mall, business is doing well, accordingto Roger Burghdorf, executive vice presi-dent of the Vintage Capital Group whichowns the property. “Sales are up signifi-cantly throughout the center, mostly due tothe food and the new tenants we broughtin,” Burghdorf said.The Pavilion, which is home to 90 stores,

sits adjacent to the 405 freeway and is an-chored by four large retailers: Sears, JCPenney, Target and IKEA. Recent construc-tion on the mall’s exterior along Del AmoBoulevard preceded the addition of a Buf-falo Wild Wings, which opened in January.The center also welcomed a new Olive Gar-den, Pieology and Yogurtland. “[Yogurtland is] doing extraordinarily

well,” Burghdorf said. “It’s one of the betterstores in their chain.”According to Burghdorf, the SouthBay

Pavilion expects to welcome a new hard-ware store, which is set to occupy a 16,000-square-foot space inside the mall. ThoughBurghdorf declined to specify the name ofthe company, he added that it is a “me-chanic’s dream.” In addition, a nationallyrecognized jewelry retailer has plans toopen at the mall, and Rue 21, a men’s andwomen’s clothing store, is scheduled toopen in early August.While the Pavilion awaits the arrival of

new stores, IKEA Carson, which has oper-ated its three-story store since 1991, pre-pares to bump its wages. The companyannounced in late June that it was increas-ing the average minimum wage in existingU.S. stores by 17 percent beginning January1, 2015. According IKEA Local MarketingSpecialist Jessica Azerrad, the store is ex-cited about the recent announcement.“A large chunk of our employees are

going to be affected by this . . . we’repleased to offer them this opportunity,”she said.In a press release, the company stated

the wage increase does not mean an in-crease in IKEA’s prices. “In fact,” read therelease, “IKEA is committed to continu-ing to lower prices.”On July 16, Walmart opened a neighbor-

hood market at 20226 Avalon Blvd. Accord-ing to Store Manager Saad Elghossaini, theneighborhood market model primarily sellsgrocery items such as produce, dairy andmeat. The 30,000 square foot store also fea-tures a pharmacy and bakery.“It’s a new concept to California, but

Walmart has neighborhood markets [na-

2014 | FOCUS ON CARSONPage 2 Long Beach Business Journal

City Manager Nelson Hernandez AndHis Five ‘P’s’ Of Public Administration


Staff Writer

According to his bio, Carson CityManager Nelson Hernandez has spent 30years in public service. He’s held posi-tions in the U.S. Department of Housingand Urban Development (HUD), theFederal Housing and Finance Agency(FHFA) the Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation (FDIC), and the U.S. De-partment of Justice. He’s also worked atfour cities, including Los Angeles andSan Diego. He told the Business Journalthat his career thus far has prepared himwell for the role of city manager, whichhe began with Carson in May.“I’ve worked at four cities and four fed-

eral agencies, and I think that is a good combination because I have seen really good man-agement and I have seen some management that needs to be improved,” Hernandez said. Each job in his background, Hernandez explained, has given him insights into dif-

ferent areas of public administration. “I’ve learned about city planning, I’ve learnedabout grants, I’ve learned about finance and public works,” Describing his vision for the future of Carson, Hernandez said he wants to focus on

the five P’s of administration. The first P, he said, is policy and helping the council withtheir policy goals. The second is planning. “Not just city planning, but work plans and operation plans so the directors and all

the employees understand what they are supposed to do,” he said. The third is personnel and “making sure we have the best people, that they are well

trained and they have the best equipment possible.” The fourth is procedures. “You could have great policy, the right plans and the right

people, but unless you have the right procedures, you can have a miscue,” Hernandez said. Finally, Hernandez said he wants to focus on performance measures. “Measuring

our success, measuring our achievements and knowing when we have achieved andwhen we haven’t.” �

The SouthBay Pavilion is home to 90 retail stores including the recently opened restaurants Pieology and Buffalo Wild Wings. Cinemark is currently constructing(shown here) a 13-screen movie theater complex at the Pavilion. The theaters should be completed by next spring, according to Roger Burghdorf, executivevice president of leasing for Vintage Real Estate, LLC, which owns the shopping center. (Construction photograph provided by Vintage Real Estate)


tionwide],” Elghossaini said. “After weopened the first and second one[in Califor-nia], there was high demand from othercities and other areas. They like the format.You’re getting everything you need at a bigbox price.”

Auto DealershipsAccording to Carson City Manager Nelson

Hernandez, the city’s auto dealerships areamong the top revenue generators for the cityin terms of sales tax. Mayor Jim Dear addedthat the Car Pros Kia of Carson is the top per-forming Kia dealer in Southern California.

Speaking to the Business Journal, Car-son Toyota Fixed Operations DirectorSean Evans said that while the parts de-partment, which supplies products whole-sale to body shops, has seen a slight dropin sales, auto sales are up.“For our dealership, generally the car

business is increasing. We’re substantiallyahead of last year, with growth of about 15percent year to date,” Evans said.He further explained that the dealership

employs 151 workers and enjoys a solid re-lationship with the city.“The business is well, we’ve been active

in the community and we’re happy to be apart of Carson.”

HospitalityThe DoubleTree by Hilton is Carson’s

only full-service hotel. Located adjacent tothe 405 freeway at the intersection of EastCarson Street and Avalon Boulevard, thebuilding features 225 rooms and suites aswell as 6,000 square feet of meeting space.It is also located next to the Carson Center,which hosts various events including con-ventions and weddings. According to Dou-bleTree General Manager Larry Saward, theproximity of the hotel to the Carson Centeris convenient for guests.“They can walk across the parking lot

and take the elevator back to their room,”said Saward.


According to Carson Toyota’s Fixed Operations Director Sean Evans, car sales at the dealership haveexperienced a 15 percent boost this year. Toyota Carson is located at 1333 E. 223 St. For more infor-mation, call 310/522-2300.


Angel Santana is the general sales manager atWIN Hyundai Carson, which operates under thesame ownership as Carson-based WIN Chevrolet.The Hyundai dealership is located at 2201 E. 223St. For more information, call 877/862-4102.


Compared to last year, occupancy rates atthe hotel are up and Saward said he expects10 percent growth over 2013.“This will definitely be a strong year over

year performance,” Saward said, adding thatroom rates are also holding steady, and inaddition to transient visits, the hotel re-cently secured a contract to provide roomsfor a flight crew operating out of LAX.“That has also impacted both occupancyand revenue as well,” he said.In 2012 the hotel completed a top-to-bot-

tom renovation of guest rooms, as well aspublic areas and meeting rooms. Saward ex-plained that some capital improvementscontinue but nothing that outwardly impactshotel guests. “We have a very good owner-ship group that is willing to support andmaintain the product,” Saward explained ofthe hotel brand.

OilIn June 2013 Tesoro purchased the mas-

sive BP oil refinery, which straddles Carsonand the City of Los Angeles. Though Tesororepresentatives declined to be interviewedfor this article, a press release issued by thecompany last June stated that Tesoro boughtthe 266 thousand barrel per day (mbpd)Carson refinery as well as more than 800dealer-operated retail stations for a pur-chase price of $1.075 billion. At the time,Tesoro also announced the purchase of thefirst portion of the integrated Carson logis-tics assets, which included six marketingand storage terminal facilities for a com-bined throughput capacity of 225 mbpd andapproximately 6.4 million barrels of totalstorage capacity.In future developments in Carson, Occi-

dental Petroleum (Oxy) plans to drill morethan 200 wells in the now dormantDominguez Oil Field using directionaldrilling techniques. According to Carson’swebsite, the company plans to constructan oil and gas processing facility as wellas shipping and pipeline facilities to trans-port 6,000 barrels of oil and natural gasper day. Following pushback from resi-dents concerned about pollution and theuse of hydraulic fracturing, commonlyknown as fracking, to extract oil and nat-ural gas, the city placed a moratorium onnew drilling operations in March, butlifted the ban a month later. The city’swebsite states that fracking is not to beused at the proposed site.In an e-mailed statement, Oxy spokes-

woman Susie Geiger told the BusinessJournal the project still awaits city approval.“The city is currently preparing responses

to comments received on the city’s draft en-vironmental impact report for the project.We look forward to continuing to work withthe City of Caron and its residents to de-velop a project soon that brings jobs andeconomic development to the city,” thestatement read.

Industrial Real EstateMore than half of Carson’s land is taken

up by industrial real estate, according toMayor Jim Dear, and local real estate firmsreport that the vacancy rate among indus-trial properties within the city is essentiallyat zero percent. “There is almost no floor space available

in the portfolio,” Lance Ryan, senior vicepresident of marketing and leasing for Wat-son Land Company, said of his company’s


The Tesoro refinery located in Carson employs 1,450 full-time workers. Tesoro purchased the refinery in June of 2013 from BP. According to the company’swebsite, the facility has the capacity to refine 363,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Watson Land Company owns millions of square feet within three master-planned business parks in Carson. This 204,000-square-foot building at 810 E.223rd St. in the Watson Industrial Center is undergoing construction as part of Watson Land’s master renovation plan, in which the company is upgradingits aging industrial buildings in Carson to accommodate warehousing and distribution needs, according to Lance Ryan, senior vice president of marketingand leasing. Renovations also feature energy-efficient upgrades, he said. The rendering above illustrates the end result of these upgrades. For leasing infor-mation, call 310/952-6401.

Located within the Watson Industrial Park, this building at 901 E. 233rd St. is currently under construction by owner Watson Land Company. The 221,050-square-foot industrial property features 5,105 square feet of office space and is located within the overweight shipping corridor. For leasing information, call310/952-6401. (Rendering provided by Watson Land Company)


industrial holdings in Carson. ToddBurnight, senior vice president of market-ing and development for The Carson Com-panies, said his company’s industrialproperties in Carson are 100 percent leased.The Carson Companies and Watson LandCompany own millions of square feet of in-dustrial land and business parks in Carsonand the South Bay.Businesses dependent upon the flow of

goods to and from the San Pedro Bay Portsoccupy Carson’s industrial buildings, manyof which are distributors, according to BruceChoate, Watson Land president and CEO.

Located just a few miles from the portswith access to four major freeways and anoverweight traffic corridor, Carson makesan ideal location for these companies,Choate and Ryan noted. About 70 percentof imports from Asia to the U.S. comethrough the ports of Long Beach and LosAngeles, Choate added. “The ports are thedriver for the industrial real estate mar-ket,” Burnight said.Steadily increasing imports, a stable

economy and the fact that there is simply nomore room in most of the South Bay to con-struct new industrial buildings are the fac-

tors creating a highly occupied industrialreal estate market in Carson right now,Choate and Ryan explained. “What we areseeing is very strong demand and limitedsupply,” Ryan said.Lately, companies located in Carson seek

to renew their leases “far in advance of ex-pirations,” Ryan observed. “They are awareof the tightness in the market and the lackof supply, so they want to avoid gettingclose to an expiration date,” he explained.Tenants may be renewing their leases in ad-vance due to an improving economic cli-mate, he added. “They are seeing their

business outlooks improving and they areconfident in taking on an additional [lease]term in advance.”“We are seeing the quality of our ten-

ants improve in terms of larger, bettercapitalized, more sophisticated nationaland international companies and it is veryimportant to them to be in a master-planned park,” Choate stated, adding thatthree of Watson Land’s industrial parks inCarson are master planned.Thanks to high demand and little supply,

both companies expect to raise rents thisyear. “We do anticipate there to be somerent growth over the next 12 to 18 monthsif overall market conditions hold and theeconomy holds,” Burnight said. Ryan saidhe expected “upward pressure on rents andreductions in lease concessions.”A potential threat to the industrial mar-

ket’s stability is the possibility of the Inter-national Longshore and Warehouse Union(ILWU) striking rather than coming to anagreement with the Pacific Merchants As-sociation (PMA), which represents compa-nies using ILWU workers at local ports,Burnight said. Although negotiations areongoing, recent statements from PMA sug-gest no imminent strike.To keep their inventory of buildings up to

date, Watson Land and The Carson Compa-nies upgrade their older properties whentenants move out. “We are renovating andupgrading older Class B buildings if theybecome empty or available,” Burnight said.


530 E. Del Amo Blvd. Carson, CA 90746

Phone: (310) 217-4590 Fax: (310) 217-4591

Office Hours: Monday - Friday 9am-5pm

The Carson Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1962. We understand the needs of the business community and

consistently strive to effectively represent the best interests of its membership. The Chamber is also dedicated to

making the City of Carson a stable, friendly community in which to work, shop, reside and play.

The Carson Companies owns about 3 million square feet of industrial land in Carson, including this 84,000-square-foot building in the Dominguez TechnologyCenter, a master-planned 438-acre industrial park. The building, located at 18049 S. Wilmington Ave., houses Mid-America Overseas, Inc., a global trans-portation and logistics company. Todd Burnight, senior vice president of marketing and development for The Carson Companies, said many industrial com-panies locate within Carson due to its proximity to the San Pedro Bay Ports.



Long Beach Business Journal

2014 | FOCUS ON CARSON

Watson Land is in the midst of a masterrenovation plan and is upgrading three tofour buildings per year, Ryan said. “We havegone through seven million square feet,” henoted. Renovations are both functional andaesthetic, and often involve converting build-ings from manufacturing uses to distributionuses and implementing cost-saving, environ-mentally friendly measures such as energyefficient lighting. Choate explained thechanges are “good for our customers, goodfor Watson and good for the environment.”�

– Industrial Real Estate WrittenBy Staff Writer Samantha Mehlinger

Private And Public

DevelopmentsTransform

Carson’s Landscape

� By SAMANTHA MEHLINGER

Staff Writer

A variety of residential, mixed-use, commercial and corporate

developments are underway or plannedacross the City of Carson’s 18.97 squaremiles. Dozens of housing units, a luxury ve-hicle test driving center, a new movie the-ater, an outlet mall and city infrastructureprojects are set to transform the city’smostly industrial landscape over the nextfew years and beyond.Many of Mayor Jim Dear’s priorities

focus on fostering development within thecity, particularly around the I-405 Freewaycorridor, where “we want to develop thewhole area into a destination center for L.ACounty,” he said. “I’m leading the charge totransform Carson from a bedroom and in-dustrial community into a destination com-munity. All the work I’m doing is gearedtoward that,” he said.

Although the dissolution of California re-development agencies in 2012 “was a blow”to Carson, Dear said the city retained aneconomic development strategy that pre-vented it from losing funding for real estateprojects. “The California State Departmentof Finance approved a number of our proj-ects because we already had contracts andobligations, so we were fortunate,” he said.“Though we lost a lot of money, we didn’tlose all of our projects, and those projectswill produce prosperity and revenue.” Residential And Mixed-Use ProjectsIn the past two years, about 340 new res-

idential units have been completed in Car-son. Since then, another 188 multi-familyunits plus about 28 single-family homeshave been approved for construction. One of the largest new mixed-use resi-

dential and retail developments is Veo, ajoint venture by real estate firms Commu-nity Dynamics and City View located on9.5 acres at 616 E. Carson St. According toCommunity Dynamics Vice President SteveRoberts, plans include 48 condominiums,89 townhomes and 15 detached single-fam-ily homes, all for sale. Twenty-three condosare dedicated as affordable housing and areavailable to applicants who meet the statecriteria for moderate-income households. Plans also include 14,000 square feet of

ground floor commercial space and arecreational facility with a 1,500-square-foot clubhouse, entertaining kitchen, spa,pool and adjoining showers and restroomsfor residents. Other outdoor amenities in-clude a barbecue area and a play structurefor children.The development’s first phase is currently

under construction and includes 24 town-homes, 26 condos and 7,000 square feet ofretail, Roberts said. “It is typical with for-sale housing that you build in phases soyou’re building the homes as you sellthem,” he explained. The first buildingsshould be completed late this year, whilethe overall project should be complete byDecember 2015 or January 2016.Veo has room for four to nine retail ten-

ants in its ground floor commercial space,Roberts said, adding that Community Dy-namics has only just begun outreach to po-tential tenants. “We are starting thatprocess, but retail tenants will only pay at-tention when you are a little bit closer to de-livery [of the buildings],” he explained.Also under construction on Carson

Street is the second phase of a projectcalled Via 425 by developer Related Cali-fornia. The first phase, a 65-unit affordableapartment community at 425 E. CarsonSt., was completed in May 2012. The sec-

ond phase is located nearby at 401 E. Car-son St., where five single-family homes indeteriorating condition previously stood,according to Bob Pitsenberger, superin-tendent of Portrait Construction, Inc. andconstruction manager for the project.Currently, construction workers are com-

pleting framing of the four-story develop-ment, which consists of 40 one-, two- andthree-bedroom apartment units, Pitsen-berger said. Like its completed sister proj-ect, this development is being built on apodium, meaning that the residential build-ing is constructed atop of a ground-levelparking structure, he said. Planned ameni-ties include a barbecue area and a recreationspace for children. “We are anticipating tobe completed by the end of November orfirst of December,” he said.The City of Carson recently approved

two other residential projects. A develop-ment by City Ventures at 2666 E.Dominguez St. should be under construc-tion late this year, according to the city’sJuly Development Status Report. The proj-ect replaces the Dominguez Trailer Parkwith 13 new single-family residences, ac-cording to the city report. The homes areto be one and two stories and sized be-tween 1,900 to 2,400 square feet.The Carson Planning Commission on

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Real estate investmentfirms Community Dynam-ics and CityView are de-veloping one of thelargest new mixed-useresidential and retailprojects under construc-tion in Carson, picturedat 616 E. Carson St.Plans for the 9.5-acre siteinclude 14,000 squarefeet of retail and 152 for-sale residential units. Theestimated completiondate is January 2016 atthe latest.

Lesley Wille, RN, executive director of Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center, visits Kaiser’s Carson Medical Offices at 18600 S. Figueroa St., located in the former headquarters of Nissan NorthAmerica. The 180,000-square-foot medical facility opened in June of last year, offering a variety of medical services including optometry, obstetrics, gynecology, x-rays, mammograms, pediatrics, derma-tology and more. In recent months, a new allergy department opened at the offices, Wille said. More departments may be added in the future; Kaiser left about half of the building as shelled-out spaceto accommodate growth, she said. “The needs of the community and our members will determine what we will put there in the future,” she said of plans for the facility. Kaiser’s Carson Medical Officesserve about 47,000 Kaiser members located in and around Carson and Rancho Dominguez, Wille said.


Long Beach Business Journal Page 7

2014 | FOCUS ON CARSON

July 8 approved an 11-unit, two-storyapartment complex at 440 E. SepulvedaBlvd. with units consisting of 19,326square feet, including parking. The proj-ect’s application from developer Equassureis currently in plan check. The city’s devel-opment report estimated constructionshould begin later this year.

Corporate/Commercial ProjectsUnder Construction

Slated for completion in the second quar-ter of next year is The Porsche Experience,a 53-acre facility with a vehicle exhibitionarea, driving tracks for testing and training,a restaurant, a conference center, meetingrooms, driving simulators and more. The development is on the site of the for-

mer Dominguez Hills Golf Course, ownedby Watson Land Company. “We are the site

of one of five Porsche Experiences beingbuilt around the world,” Dear said, notingother sites are in Dubai, China, Germany,Great Britain and Atlanta. “It’s a really sig-nificant development,” he added.“All of the on-site remediation and all the

soil importing and grading is completed,”Lance Ryan, senior vice president of mar-keting and leasing for Watson Land Com-pany, told the Business Journal. About 280support piles are currently being placed inthe ground, he said, after which construc-tion of the facility may begin. “The excite-ment is building in the automobile industryand community over it,” he said of thePorsche Experience. “A lot of buzz is goingon around that project.”Cinemark is also bringing more options

for entertainment to the Carson community

with its new 13-theater cinema complex atthe SouthBay Pavilion, a mall located at20700 Avalon Blvd. According to Carson’sJuly Development Status Report, the movietheaters are being built within the mall at theformer location of Chuck E. Cheese andNew Millennium High School. Chuck E.Cheese, Old Navy and other SouthBayPavilion tenants were relocated within themall to make way for the theaters, whileNew Millennium High School was relocatedto the campus of Gardena High School.Roger Burghdorf, executive vice presi-

dent of leasing for Vintage Real Estate,LLC, which owns the SouthBay Pavilion,said the theaters are currently under heavyconstruction with support columns andfooters now being installed. The Cinemarktheater complex encompasses about 60,000

square feet, with an entrance on the interiorof the mall, he said. The screens in the 13theaters “will be state of the art” and “alldigital,” he added.Customers of the SouthBay Pavilion are

excited for the project’s completion,which is scheduled for spring of 2015,Burghdorf said. He anticipated theremight be a 25 percent increase in mallbusiness once the theaters open.

Planned DevelopmentsOn what Dear called the “largest undevel-

oped land in urban Los Angeles Countynext to a freeway,” plans are underway forThe Boulevards at South Bay, a mixed-usedevelopment consisting of an outlet mall,hotel, restaurants, additional retail, enter-tainment and 1,550 multi-family homes.The 157-acre site adjacent to the I-405

Freeway at 20400 S. Main St. is currently un-dergoing environmental remediation becauseit sits on a former landfill, according to JudiLapin, spokesperson for The Boulevards atSouth Bay. “An on-site team works closelywith both the City of Carson and the Califor-nia Environmental Protection Agency, De-partment of Toxic Substance Control,” shewrote in an e-mailed statement.Lapin noted that with access to four

major freeways and more than 300,000 ve-hicles passing by on the I-405 daily, “Car-son’s location is ideal” to attract tourists andcustomers to the project upon completion.Dear pointed out that the location is

across Del Amo Boulevard from the future

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Use water wisely.It’s essential.

The framing for a new 40-unitapartment complex is underconstruction at 401 E. CarsonSt. The development by Re-lated California should becomplete by late November orearly December, according toConstruction Manager Bob Pit-senberger. The project is thesecond phase of an apartmentcommunity called Via 425 lo-cated at 425 E. Carson St.



Porsche Experience Center, with the South-Bay Pavilion on the east side of the I-405Freeway. With all the new developments inthe area, including the new Cinemark the-aters, he hoped the area might become a“destination” within L.A. County.Another large planned development area

sits on a 448-acre site at 20945 S. Wilming-ton Ave., home to Shell Oil’s Carson Termi-nal. Shell plans to develop the site over 15to 25 years into retail, light industrial andperhaps other uses, according to Mat Me-lendez, the site’s business developmentproject lead. The first planned phase is an8.8-acre retail site and 12.3-acre businesspark, according to Carson’s DevelopmentStatus Report. The proposed project is cur-rently undergoing environmental review, ac-cording to the city’s report.“We just completed the environmental

impact report (EIR) comment period as ofMarch 26,” Melendez said. This documentis required to comply with the CaliforniaEnvironmental Quality Act, which requiresstate and local agencies to identify environ-

mental impacts for developments and otherprojects. The City of Carson is currentlyworking on responses to comments on theEIR. The document, with the city’s re-sponses, should come before the planningcommission in the fall, according to the De-velopment Status Report. The final EIRmust be certified before the city may ap-prove the project.“We’d like to get started right away,” Me-

lendez said, adding that he hoped the EIRprocess would be complete by the begin-ning of next year. “Once we get approvalfrom the City of Carson and get all the re-quired permits we’d like to start on the parts[of the development] that benefit the com-munity first,” he said, referring to construct-ing retail and beautifying the property.

City Infrastructure ImprovementsThe city is also actively pursuing projects

to beautify and develop Carson’s infrastruc-ture to meet the needs of the communityand encourage private investments.“The other day at the city council meet-

ing, I said I want this to be the year of in-

frastructure,” Carson City Manager NelsonHernandez told the Business Journal. “Thecity has about $45 million or so in financ-ing available to build infrastructure, so . . .the council has established a committee ofthe council to prioritize our capital improve-ment and infrastructure projects,” he said.A long list of proposed infrastructure andcapital improvement projects has been cre-ated and “the question now is putting themin priority order,” Hernandez said.One of the mayor’s priorities is the Car-

son Street Master Plan and ImprovementProject, described in the city’s DevelopmentStatus Report as “an extensive public in-vestment stretching 1.75 miles between theI-405 and I-110 freeways that would com-plement existing and proposed developmentby reinforcing the concept of a ‘mainstreet.’” The goal of the plan, approved in2012, “is to enhance community well-beingby making Carson Street a place where so-cial and business interaction can occur on aregular basis through the development ofwalkable streets, shopping districts and res-

idential neighborhoods that lessens the de-pendency on automobiles.” In January, the Carson City Council au-

thorized city staff to finalize plans and es-timates for Carson Street improvements aspart of this plan. The estimated cost at thispoint is $12 million, according to the city’sdevelopment report. Construction is ex-pected to begin in 2015.A point of pride for Mayor Dear is the

recent completion of $14 million in reno-vations to Carson Park, funded by the Car-son Successor Agency and redevelopmentbond proceeds. The park now features a21,210-square-foot building with dance,activity and computer rooms, a gym, aworkout area, a childcare facility and aconcessions area. Old restrooms were de-molished and rebuilt as well. Dear recalled how when he was first

elected to the city council in 2001, parks“were being claimed by gang members astheir turf.” With the formation of a ParkEnforcement Team of the division of theL.A. County Sheriff ’s Department servingCarson, along with these recent renova-tions, “parks have been totally transformedinto safe havens for recreation and enjoy-ment of the families and individuals ofCarson,” Dear reflected.More improvements to the park are com-

ing soon; the city was recently awarded a$290,000 grant from the California Depart-ment of Housing and Urban Developmentto renovate the pool at Carson Park withnew pool pumps, lighting, a water heaterand a new solar thermal hot water system,according to a city press release. An infrastructure project currently under-

way involves improvements to the Wilm-ington Avenue interchange at the I-405Freeway. The $24 million project is slatedfor completion in December 2015. It in-cludes “construction of a new I-405 north-bound onramp, widening WilmingtonAvenue from 223rd Street south of the I-405 to the I-405 northbound onramp northof the interchange, and construction of aright turn lane from Wilmington Avenuenorthbound to 223rd Street eastbound,” ac-cording to a city report. �


A Porsche Experience Center, featuring driving tracks, dining, meeting facilities, vehicle displays and more, is under construction in Carson at the site of theformer Dominguez Hills Golf Course. The center is one of five being built around the world. Representatives from Watson Land Company, which owns theproperty, said the 53-acre facility should be completed by the first or second quarter of 2015. (Photograph provided by Watson Land Company)

Pictured at Carson Center, 801 E. Carson St., areMichael Page, the center’s manager, and ReginaRamirez, supervisor. The center, which features 21rooms of varying sizes for meetings, weddings, com-munity events, trade shows and more, has 40,000square feet of meeting space and a 12,000-square-foot ballroom.



Staff Writer

W ith a huge sports complex,university arts programs,

museums and a city-run community andevents center, the City of Carson is home

to many special events and community ac-tivities year-round.Carson’s largest attraction, the StubHub

Center, is located on 125 acres adjacent toCalifornia State University, DominguezHills and brings in about 1.5 million visi-tors per year through both ticketed and

non-ticketed events, according to KatiePandolfo, general manager. The StubHub Center hosts about 45 to 50

soccer games per year, both for its hometeams – the Los Angeles Galaxy and ChivasUSA – as well as visiting teams such asChivas Guadalajara and Cruz Azul, Pan-

dolfo said. Soccer events, which fill muchof StubHub’s calendar, are growing in pop-ularity thanks to the World Cup, whichshone an international spotlight on the sportfor much of July, she pointed out. “Peopleare just a lot more interested in soccer right


The StubHub Center in Carson has a variety of sports and entertainment venues, including a 27,000-seat soccer stadium, an 8,000-seat tennis stadium, a 2,450-seat indoor Velodrome for track cycling, and a2,000-seat track and field facility. The center, which is managed by AEG Facilities, is home to Major League Soccer teams Chivas USA and Los Angeles Galaxy. For more information, visit stubhubcenter.com.

Special Events Contribute To The Carson Community



now because it was on the world stage, andwe have definitely felt the effects,” she said.“Our Fourth of July game for the L.A.Galaxy was completely sold out.”Another popular event for the center is

the Reebok CrossFit Games, which Pan-dolfo said typically attracts about 20,000visitors daily during its three-day run.Justin Bergh, general manager of CrossFitGames Inc., said the games have been lo-cated at StubHub Center since 2009, whenthe event outgrew its original location ona private ranch. CrossFit Games, Inc.,which puts on the event (while Reebok isthe title sponsor), chose StubHub Centerbecause it has a variety of facilities to ac-commodate the games’ array of activities.“They are absolutely without equal interms of the quality of their staff . . . [and]the way they handle problems and chal-lenges. They are out of this world,” Berghsaid of StubHub Center’s staff.This year the fitness competition begins

July 25 and is expected to positively impactthe local economy, Pandolfo noted. “Itbrings in an enormous amount of peoplefrom not just around the country but fromthe world to this area,” she said of the Cross-Fit Games. The local DoubleTree by HiltonHotel Carson is sold out during the event, asare some hotels in Manhattan Beach andLong Beach, she noted. “The economic im-pact that this one event has on this wholearea is pretty incredible,” she said.In addition to ticketed events, StubHub

Center hosts various events for the Carsoncommunity, such as the city’s Fourth of Julycelebration. The center also supports thecommunity through scholarships for localstudents and partnerships with local schoolssuch as the California Academy of Mathe-matics and Science, Pandolfo said. Stub-Hub staff members sit on variouscommunity boards, including the localYMCA, the Carson Chamber of Commerceand the Boys and Girls Club.

Another major events venue in Carson isthe city-run Carson Center, which has40,000 square feet of meeting space and a1,200-square-foot ballroom suited for eventsranging from weddings to trade shows. Thecenter is also home to many city-hostedcommunity activities and events, accordingto Manager Michael Page.Currently, the Carson Center is undergo-

ing a $1.4 million renovation, the firstmajor upgrade to the center since 1995,Page said. The city council approved theproject in March, and construction has beenunderway for about three months, he said.Both lobbies and the center’s breezeway arebeing outfitted with new ceramic tile. Mar-ble countertops and new furniture are beinginstalled in the main lobby. New furnitureand foliage are to be placed in the atrium,and restrooms in the ballroom upgraded tohigher standards, Page explained. “It is fairly major,” Page said of the ren-

ovations. While the construction has made

booking events difficult, Page said oncethe work is completed the upgradesshould attract more business. “It shouldimprove the center’s looks and our salessituation,” he said. Renovations may befinished as soon as August, or Novemberat the latest, he estimated. �

Carson Has RichHistory And AGrowing Arts

Presence � By BRANDON FERGUSON

Staff Writer

C arson may be known for its oilrefineries and business-friendly

climate, but that doesn’t mean art and his-tory don’t thrive in the city. According toJim Keville, chair of the Department of Artand Design at Cal State Dominguez Hills,approximately 170 students are enrolled inthe art department.“One of the things that sets us apart is

our small, intimate class size and thecloseness of faculty due to that class size,”Keville said.The school offers classes in three core

areas: art history, graphic design and studioart. According to Keville, about half the de-partment’s students are enrolled in thegraphic design program. The school cur-rently offers a digital photography programand the graphic design program is begin-ning to delve into the fields of animationand video game development.“That’s something we just started pilot-

ing last spring and we’re continuing to tryout some experimental classes in thatarea,” Keville said.The department also features a 2,500-

square-foot gallery space and in Septemberplans to feature a faculty art show. For moreinformation, visit cah.csudh.edu/art. In addition to its art program, the univer-

sity also features courses in theater, musicand dance that involves about 200 stu-dents, according to University AssociateDirector of Communications Amy Bent-ley-Smith. The department of theater anddance produces performances in two the-ater spaces: The 485-seat University The-ater, and the 70-seat Edison StudioTheater. The program presents six on-cam-pus productions a year – four of them the-atrical and two dance performances. The music department meanwhile per-

forms more than 40 concerts and recitalsthroughout the year. The department has aninventory of 21 handcrafted Steinway pi-anos giving the university the distinction ofbeing the first CSU to be named an “All-Steinway” campus by the Steinway com-pany, according to Bentley-Smith. “As anall-Steinway campus, we will have the op-portunity to bring on All-Steinway artists toconduct master classes and concerts,” Bent-ley-Smith said in an e-mail.Providing a historical perspective on the

evolution of the printed word, Carson ishome to the International Printing Museum.The museum features 18,000 square feet of


The Dominguez Rancho Adobe museum (18127 S. Alameda St.) sits on 13 acres of land representing some of Carson’s last remaining green space, accordingto Museum Executive Director Alison Bruesehoff. The sprawling property includes a home built by one of the area’s first families in 1826. Several culturalevents are held at the museum each year including musical performances and lectures. This October the museum will host a reenactment of the Battle of theOld Woman’s Gun, which took place in 1846. For more information, visit dominguezrancho.org or call 310/603-0088.

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space and houses one of the largest workingcollections of printing presses. “[It] spansseveral hundred years in age,” said Execu-tive Director and Curator Mark Barbour,who explained that tours explore an agewhen books were printed by hand throughthe age of the Gutenberg press.“We talk about how the advent of printing

changed the world,” Barbour said.The exhibits also explore the colonial pe-

riod up through more modern times thatfeature technologies such as the linotypeand lithograph press.Barbour estimates the museum welcomes

roughly 25,000 people a year, many of themschool children. The museum also has afull-time actor who portrays BenjaminFranklin. “All of our educational programshave a theater component to make historycome alive for students and the general pub-lic,” Barbour said.

In 2013 the museum celebrated its 25thanniversary. Barbour explained that whenthe museum first opened, it was locatedin Buena Park near the 91 and 5 freeways.Caltrans construction eventually led tothe loss of that facility in 1998. Luckily,said Barbour, a museum boardmemberowned the property where the buildingcurrently sits. “He gave us an opportunityto come into the space, which we did inthe fall of 1998. Then in 2001 we initiateda campaign to purchase the building,”Barbour explained.He added that people who visit the mu-

seum are surprised by the wealth of ex-hibits. “The wow factor is really big,”Barbour said. “When [California travelshow host] Huell Howser finally made it tothe museum and came to Carson in 2006,he was so surprised that he considered itone of his best museum experiences.”

For more information on the InternationalPrinting Museum, visit printmuseum.org orcall 310/515-7166.Those interested in California’s early

rancho history should pay a visit to Car-son’s Dominguez Rancho Adobe Mu-seum, which sits atop a sprawling13-acre property. According to ExecutiveDirector Alison Bruesehoff, the propertyrepresents some of the area’s last remain-ing green space. She estimated the mu-seum receives 10,000 visitors each yearwho come to hear the story of theDominguez family and visit the prop-erty’s gardens and orchard.“[The Dominguez’s] were one of the

first families in the South Bay and theirhistory parallels the history of Los Ange-les,” Bruesehoff told the Business Journal.Visitors to the museum receive a tour

of the Dominguez family adobe, which

was built in 1826. “As you walk throughthe museum, you basically walk throughthe Dominguez’s lives. It depicts differ-ent rooms that would have been in theadobe. We talk about their history, thehistory of Los Angeles and the history ofSouthern California with a focus on theSouth Bay,” Bruesehoff said. The museum also features a number of

events including Flamenco performancesand a speaker series. In October, the mu-seum is set to host a reenactment of theMexican-American War engagement, TheBattle of the Old Woman’s Gun, whichtook place on rancho lands 168 years ago –in 1846. The museum, located at 18127 S.Alameda St., is also available for privategatherings such as weddings and corporateevents. For more information, visit the mu-seum’s website at dominguezrancho.org orcall 310/603-0088. �



Staff Writer

One of the most influential public resources in Carson in terms of its community impactis California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH). The state university is one ofthe largest regional employers, with about 1,489 employees, of which 809 are full-timeand 680 are part-time. Thanks to the number of people coming to the university everyday to work and study, in addition to the school’s local spending, the university’s economicimpact to the surrounding area is about $20 million per year, according to CSUDH Pres-ident Willie J. Hagan.“The benefits of an educated workforce are also something we bring to the table,” Hagan

said, pointing out that of CSUDH’s 90,000 alumni, about 50,000 are located within 25miles of the campus. “We send into the local community people who have degrees in fieldsthat benefit the community, from social work to business to software design,” he explained.Carson and its surrounding communities also benefit from CSUDH’s incorporation of

community service into its academic curriculum. “We have consistently ranked among the nation’s top universities in terms of students who

participate in service learning as part of their curriculum,” he said. “About 60 percent of ourstudents engage in some form of service learning.” Last year, about 8,000 CSUDH studentsperformed about 200,000 hours of community service, he added. Through the service learn-ing curriculum, students engage in everything from beautifying parks to helping local citiesconduct research onissues such as obesityprevention or evencity policies.The university

continues to grow asdemand for highereducation increases,Hagan said. Enroll-ment for the comingyear is about 16,500students. “We havean increased numberof people trying toget in,” he said, not-ing that the univer-sity received about30,000 applicantslast year. “We tookin about 1,500freshmen last yearand about 2,500 to2,600 transfers. Weexpect those num-bers to be roughlythe same [thisyear],” he said. “Wedo expect to con-tinue to grow, but itwill be slow and

modest growth unless there are changes in funding to allow for more students.”Student retention rates, however, show room for improvement, Hagan said. “Our stu-

dent retention rates are not where we want them to be,” he said, attributing the higher-than-ideal dropout figures to a percentage of students who have other obligations suchas full-time employment and their own families. To help boost student success, CSUDH “invested a lot of money” in programs and

services to guide students through their college experiences, Hagan said. Some studentsare coming from “under resourced” high schools and as a result their writing and mathskills are sometimes not up to university standards, he explained. The university offers aSummer Bridge Academy to students who need to bolster their math and writing skillsand learn organizational and time management tactics. CSUDH is also working to ensureall students have access to at least two “high-impact practices,” which Hagan said areproven by research to improve student success and graduate rates. Some of these practicesinclude participating in faculty research, taking an internship and traveling abroad.As the university grows, plans for facility expansions top Hagan’s priorities. Cur-

rently, renovations are underway to improve science, math, engineering and technology(STEM) laboratories and classrooms “to integrate the best instructional technology,”he said. Improving the university’s STEM facilities is a priority for Hagan becauseSTEM fields may hold the most potential for future job growth and employment ofgraduates, he said. To fund future construction such as a new science building, student dormitories and

faculty housing,Hagan said he is in-vestigating public-private partnershipsbetween the univer-sity and real estatedevelopers. “If we can build

all those things witha private developerin conjunction withbuilding in somemixed-use commer-cial [buildings], itmight be possiblethat by us providingthe land through apublic-private part-nership that we couldgenerate enough rev-enue to help amor-tize the debt for anew science build-ing,” he explained.He said the univer-sity is actively pursu-ing this optionthrough discussionswith developers. �

California State University, Dominguez Hills Has Major Positive Impact On Community And The Region

California State University, Dominguez Hills President Willie J. Hagan said the university is “a major contributor” to the Carson community and surround-ing areas by providing employment, community services and an educated workforce. Hagan is focused on fostering student success through curriculumand programs aimed at boosting retention rates, and hopes to grow the university’s facilities in the near future.


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