Torrance Toyota Campus Bought With Plans To Redevelop

TORRANCE, CA – The Irvine-based Sares-Regis Group is taking over the 110-acre Toyota Torrance campus and is planning to redevelop it after the sale has officially closed, it was reported Friday. No purchase price was disclosed for the sale, which closed escrow closed Tuesday, the Daily Breeze reported.

Privately held Sares-Regis plans to redevelop the 16 separate parcels using the same approach it employed at the former McDonnell Douglas-Boeing site north of Long Beach Airport, according to the newspaper.

Currently 80 percent complete, what's now known as Douglas Park is a 250- acre project that includes corporate headquarters, retail and hotels. The project has been recognized for its creative reuse of existing buildings and its attention to design detail for the new buildings constructed on site.

"That’s the kind of model we like," Peter Rooney, president of Sares- Regis' commercial development division, said in remarks reported by the Breeze. "We’re hoping to bring a lot of new jobs and companies to the site."

That would go a long way to offset the loss of the 3,000 jobs Toyota is moving to new headquarters in Plano, Texas, according to the Breeze.

"They’re vacating the buildings and they will be occupying some of the buildings through the third quarter of 2018," Rooney said. "They are keeping their distribution center on the site."

Rooney has overseen the acquisition of approximately 75 commercial- industrial properties totaling 33 million square feet with a value of approximately $2.3 billion over the last two decades, according to the company’s website.

No housing is planned for the north Torrance parcels located just feet from the 405 Freeway, he said.

"We do build residential, but we have no plans to do residential there given the location next to the refinery," Rooney said. "I’m not sure it's a good fit.

We’re looking at all the buildings and assessing the buildings," he added, according to the Breeze. "Toyota occupied them for 25 years."

City News Service and Patch staffer Emily Holland contributed to this post; Image via Pixabay