Construction underway on city's largest warehouse
Palomino Ranch will add 2 million square feet of industrial space
Norco — the city known for its rural, equestrian lifestyle — is getting a massive new warehouse on the site of a historical egg ranch.
At 2-million-squarefeet, Palomino Business Park will be the largest industrial real estate development in Norco history, developer CapRock Partners said in a news release. Known as Palomino Ranch, the site will be built in three phases, and include 24 buildings on 112 acres.
The developer hopes to complete construction in early 2023, Jon Pharris, cofounder and president of CapRock Partners, said by email.
Though the Inland Empire is home to hundreds of warehouses and logistics centers of every size, Norco has just two that are over 100,000-square-feet.
The nearby Amazon distribution center in Eastvale, visible from the 15 Freeway, is 1-million-square-feet.
Norco spokesperson Kelli Newton said there are about 50 completed “industrial-type” buildings in the city, including warehouses.
Despite news of Southern California Edison not having enough power to serve over a dozen planned mega-warehouses in the Mead Valley area, near the 215 Freeway, Newton said Norco is “not aware of any current or future power issues in warehouses, business complexes or industrial building areas located in the city.”
Palomino Ranch will be located at 1811 Mountain Ave., south of Norco College, bordered by Second and First streets and Pacific and Mountain avenues.
The city, on April 19, announced the closure of Mountain Avenue between First and Second streets, which began Monday, as part of the first phase of Palomino Ranch construction.
The road is expected to be closed until August.
Though the project’s initial name, size and developer have changed, the plan for a major distribution center in Norco is nearly a decade-old. Officials say the Inland region is an “industrial real estate submarket” that’s less costly than Orange County, and desirable for tenants needing access to markets across Southern California and beyond.
Patrick Daniels, CEO of CapRock Partners, said in a June 2020 presentation to the City Council that Palomino Ranch is the developer’s third industrial project in Norco. The first, Saddle Ranch Business Park, is 422,000-square-feet in size and was sold to another property group in late 2021. Saddle Ranch South, the second complex and still under construction, is 374,000-square-feet and nearly 24 acres. Both are a few blocks north on Horseless Carriage Drive.
At subsequent meetings in 2020, Daniels said that CapRock Partners heard input from the community at public hearings and committee meetings, including the city’s Planning and Historic Preservation commissions. These helped the developer include changes to the long-proposed project, including building size limitations, restrictions on truck travel, the addition and maintenance of horse trails on all four sides of the warehouse complex.
“What we heard (in these meetings) over and over is to minimize trucks — the community didn’t want to see trucks,” Daniels said in June 2020. “We heard loudand-clear that you didn’t want any buildings bigger than what you already have in town; you didn’t want big industrial warehouse distribution … all the buildings are equal to or smaller than buildings in the city today.”
Officials said that West
ern architectural features and landscaping were all part of Palomino Ranch’s original design, a nod to Norco’s “Horsetown, USA” culture and history.
“With Norco’s unique equestrian background, we wanted to incorporate the aesthetic into the Palomino project and we worked with the city to bring it to life,” Pharris said in a recent email. “It will feature western design elements such as wrap-around wooden porches and lantern-streetlighting.”
The project is notably on the site of the historic Norco Ranch Inc., a national egg supplier owned by the late Harry and Hilden Eisen, who were survivors of the Holocaust. A future sign out front will read “Eisen Norco Ranch Original Site,” and there has been discussion about building a historic room honoring the Eisen family and Norco city history.
The development agreement, defining the project’s specific rules and features, was approved unanimously by the City Council in September 2020. The agreement includes millions in developmental fees, street and infrastructure improvements, plus a $2 million public benefit contribution from CapRock Partners to ease construction noise and traffic concerns.
Officials said the developer will also contribute $240,000 toward improvements at the George Ingalls Equestrian Event Center, including the Gold Star Families Monument and the Kathy Azevedo Spirit of Norco Monument.
Council Member Kevin Bash said at the September 2020 meeting that neighbors have been “nervous,” but the developer has worked closely with the community to hear concerns.
“The buffers are going to work really well,” said Bash.
“My dearest hope is when I drive-by in the future, I see it’s exactly what was promised.”
Daniels said at the September 2020 meeting that Palomino Ranch will create thousands of job opportunities and “millions of dollars” in city revenue.
CapRock Partners plans to start leasing the space to tenants, which have not yet been confirmed. Businesses like E-Z-UP, concrete manufacturer QCP and Goli Nutrition, as well as other e-commerce and logistics businesses, have been named in the past.
“Industrial is the new retail,” Daniels said in September 2020.