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Allen Group Builds Outside Inland Empire

3 May 2006

The Allen Group, a developer of rail-served distribution and logistics parks, finished construction on a new, 288,000-square-foot building at the International Trade and Transportation Center in the southern San Joaquin Valley, Calif., as an alternative to burgeoning Inland Empire markets nearby.

The Allen Group hopes to take advantage of relatively lower wages, a larger labor pool and affordable housing in the southern San Joaquin, compared with more mature markets in the Inland Empire region east of Los Angeles. More than 35 million consumers live within a 300-mile radius of the ITTC, the developer said.

The ITTC, a 700-acre master planned logistics park, is a designated Free Trade Zone and is affiliated with the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Target operates a 1.7 million square foot warehouse and distribution center at the ITTC; Hillman Fasteners and State Farm Insurance also work from there. The development is served by BNSF Railway and offers access to I-5 and State Highway 99.

The new facility was designed for dock-side rail service. It features 48-foot-high, 9-foot-by-10-foot doors, a panelized roof system and skylight coverage in warehouse areas.