McLane Food Services Begins Construction of New SoCal Headquarters

McLane Food Services has begun construction of its new headquarters in Riverside, Calif., at Meridian, a new master-planned business park located in Riverside, Calif., on the site of the former March Air Force Base.

The new facility will be 298,000 square feet, and will have freezer space, cool space, and dry storage area, with more than 15,000 square feet of offices, and a truck maintenance facility. McLane is expected to bring over 300 jobs to the area.

McLane Company is a distributor of food and non-foot products to convenience stores, drug stores, mass merchandise outlets, quick service restaurants, and movie theaters. It will use the new facility as its Southern California and Las Vegas distribution center.

McLane is the first user-tenant to buy property at Meridian, with escrow closing on the 29-acre lot in December, 2004, said Michael Morris, vice president of commercial development for LNR Property Corporation, the developer of Meridian.

McLane formerly leased space in Ontario, Calif., said Morris. "They had outgrown their space, and really wanted to own their own facility," he said. Morris said McLane bought more space than it presently needs, and has the option to add about 80,000 square feet to its facility if it wishes, he said.

Meridian is nearly 1,000 net acres, with three miles of freeway frontage on Interstate 215. It has Foreign Trade Zone designation, will house a Metrolink Station, with connections to Los Angeles and Orange County, and rail spurs with BNSF service. The second phase of development of Meridian will begin in about four weeks, when about 550 units of military housing units will be demolished, Morris said.

There is also a 13,000-foot runway nearby, that can be used for either commercial or military uses, which should attract air cargo users to the new development, Morris said.