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Robertshaw Developer Promises Top Quality
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| FACING THE NEIGHBORS. John Killen, standing, explains Xebec Realty Partners’s plans for the land next to Colin Powell Academy last week. —Gazette photo by Leslie A.M. Smith |
By Leslie A.M. Smith
Staff Writer
Clean trucks, noise abatement and traffic mitigation were the concerns expressed by residents of the Coolidge Triangle Neighborhood Association upon hearing Xebec Realty Partners’ vision for a property Xebec purchased on Victoria Street.
Owned by manufacturer Robertshaw until March of this year, the property sits next to Colin Powell Academy. Built in 1999, Powell Academy is a K-8 school with approximately 1,200 students currently enrolled.
John Killen, director of development at Xebec Realty Partners, presented the firm’s plan for the property to about 25 people last Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the monthly association meeting.
“Our goal is to own and maintain the properties we buy for a very long time,” Killen said. “The same is true for this property.”
The building sits on 12 acres of land at 100 W. Victoria St. Xebec’s plan includes restoring the 175,000 square-foot warehouse by first removing asbestos and other pollutants, and replacing the 40,000 square-foot office space with 5,000 square feet of office space.
“We are fully conforming with zoning guidelines and building guidelines,” he said.
The current zoning allows for light manufacturing and warehousing, which lead to truck traffic — and then the proximity to the school becomes a priority.
“We hired a traffic engineer to build us a model so we can ensure the trucks can pull into the property instead of stay on the street,” Killen said.
According to Killen, items being considered for the best interests of the Powell Academy students are the numbers of cars and trucks on the property, hours of operation that will not interfere with arrival and departure times for the school, and the egress and ingress of vehicles on the property. In addition, Killen said the company is focusing on the architecture so it coordinates with Powell Academy.
Xebec does not have a tenant yet, but Killen said that they will market to companies allowed within the current zoning: light manufacturing — as was done at Robertshaw with three shifts working around the clock — or warehousing. There are no zoning restrictions for hours of operation, per Killen.
“With a manufacturing tenant, we will have fewer trucks and more employee cars, and with warehousing we will have fewer employee cars, but more trucks,” Killen explained.
According to Killen, Xebec aims to make a good business investment and be a good neighbor. Xebec has offered to share some of the land with the school, but the Board of Education has not taken any action yet, he added.
Once funding for construction is secured, further improvements will be made in the first quarter of 2009, Killen said.
“The improvements will take about six months, so our target for a tenant to move in is late next summer,” Killen said.
Although it will not be a requirement of the lease to use clean trucks, Killen said that an A-class facility like the one they are building will likely not attract a tenant who uses dirty trucks.
“We are making a substantial investment in this property to attract a higher-end tenant,” he said.
“Usually, buildings are planned to occupy half the land of the total property. We are only building on one-third of this property so trucks can drive onto the property and there are no trucks parking on the street — and that will be in the lease.”
Linda Wilson, whose children attended Powell Academy and now has a grandson enrolled, said that she hopes that as a good corporate citizen, Xebec will help offset some of the financial burden felt by the school while still keeping safety as the most critical issue.
“There should never have been a school built there in an industrial area to begin with. Now we have to mitigate problems around it,” Long Beach Ninth District Councilman and Vice Mayor Val Lerch said. “I think we need to build a bridge over the street for the kids to walk across and avoid the street altogether.”
Lerch said that he has made this suggestion several times, but due to the zoning it is not a requirement and cannot be forced on a business, the city or the school district to implement.
Owned by manufacturer Robertshaw until March of this year, the property sits next to Colin Powell Academy. Built in 1999, Powell Academy is a K-8 school with approximately 1,200 students currently enrolled.
John Killen, director of development at Xebec Realty Partners, presented the firm’s plan for the property to about 25 people last Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the monthly association meeting.
“Our goal is to own and maintain the properties we buy for a very long time,” Killen said. “The same is true for this property.”
The building sits on 12 acres of land at 100 W. Victoria St. Xebec’s plan includes restoring the 175,000 square-foot warehouse by first removing asbestos and other pollutants, and replacing the 40,000 square-foot office space with 5,000 square feet of office space.
“We are fully conforming with zoning guidelines and building guidelines,” he said.
The current zoning allows for light manufacturing and warehousing, which lead to truck traffic — and then the proximity to the school becomes a priority.
“We hired a traffic engineer to build us a model so we can ensure the trucks can pull into the property instead of stay on the street,” Killen said.
According to Killen, items being considered for the best interests of the Powell Academy students are the numbers of cars and trucks on the property, hours of operation that will not interfere with arrival and departure times for the school, and the egress and ingress of vehicles on the property. In addition, Killen said the company is focusing on the architecture so it coordinates with Powell Academy.
Xebec does not have a tenant yet, but Killen said that they will market to companies allowed within the current zoning: light manufacturing — as was done at Robertshaw with three shifts working around the clock — or warehousing. There are no zoning restrictions for hours of operation, per Killen.
“With a manufacturing tenant, we will have fewer trucks and more employee cars, and with warehousing we will have fewer employee cars, but more trucks,” Killen explained.
According to Killen, Xebec aims to make a good business investment and be a good neighbor. Xebec has offered to share some of the land with the school, but the Board of Education has not taken any action yet, he added.
Once funding for construction is secured, further improvements will be made in the first quarter of 2009, Killen said.
“The improvements will take about six months, so our target for a tenant to move in is late next summer,” Killen said.
Although it will not be a requirement of the lease to use clean trucks, Killen said that an A-class facility like the one they are building will likely not attract a tenant who uses dirty trucks.
“We are making a substantial investment in this property to attract a higher-end tenant,” he said.
“Usually, buildings are planned to occupy half the land of the total property. We are only building on one-third of this property so trucks can drive onto the property and there are no trucks parking on the street — and that will be in the lease.”
Linda Wilson, whose children attended Powell Academy and now has a grandson enrolled, said that she hopes that as a good corporate citizen, Xebec will help offset some of the financial burden felt by the school while still keeping safety as the most critical issue.
“There should never have been a school built there in an industrial area to begin with. Now we have to mitigate problems around it,” Long Beach Ninth District Councilman and Vice Mayor Val Lerch said. “I think we need to build a bridge over the street for the kids to walk across and avoid the street altogether.”
Lerch said that he has made this suggestion several times, but due to the zoning it is not a requirement and cannot be forced on a business, the city or the school district to implement.
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