Stirling Capital Investments, a joint venture between Stirling Enterprises, a Foothill Ranch, Calif.,-based development company, and Denver, Colo.,-based DCT Industrial Trust Inc., a leading industrial real estate investment trust, has unveiled its plans for the development of Phase I at Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA), a master-planned 8,500-acre multimodal transportation hub supported by air, ground and rail connections in Victorville, Calif.

Construction is anticipated to start within 30 days on the first three projects totaling nearly one million square feet.

Overall Phase I development includes the construction of approximately 6.3 million square feet of industrial facilities on over 350 acres of land. The new industrial space will be built on a speculative basis and will be comprised of diverse product types including large-scale distribution and multi-tenant facilities. Phase I aims to create 13,636 direct and ancillary jobs and is expected to begin first quarter of 2007 and is anticipated to take 30 months to complete.

CB Richard Ellis’ Jay Dick, Darla Longo, Mark Latimer and Jeff Morgan are responsible for marketing Phase I facilities on behalf of Stirling Capital Investments.

“Phase I development is a significant step in the overall vision and development of Southern California Logistics Airport as a multimodal transportation hub positioned to support the requirements of both regional and national goods movement growth,” said Dougall Agan, principal with Stirling and master developer of SCLA. “The market is now ripe for major development activity at Southern California Logistics Airport. Overall, we have entitled 65 million square feet for commercial and industrial development to accommodate future warehousing and logistics operations.”

Following is information on the first three projects to be developed as part of Phase I. The projects total nearly one million square feet and will break ground within the next 30 days.

Stirling Capital Investments will develop a 407,612 square foot build-to-suit distribution building for Atlanta-based Newell Rubbermaid. Newell Rubbermaid recently signed a 10-year lease agreement valued at approximately $15 million for the building which will break ground this month and is anticipated for completion in September 2007, creating approximately 150 new jobs. Plans are already underway to possibly expand the Newell Rubbermaid facility by 600,000 square feet in the next five years.

Stirling Capital Investments will develop two multi-tenant projects totaling 280,000 square feet, with construction on the largest of the two projects anticipated to start in March 2007. The company will develop a 296,000 square foot distribution building, with construction slated to begin in March 2007. Stirling has executed a co-marketing agreement with Cal Cartage, a third party logistics provider that manages more than 13 facilities in California, Chicago, Georgia and Mexico, to co-market the facility. The building will be the first-ever logistics-oriented facility developed at SCLA and will provide warehouse management and logistics fulfillment services.

Plans for the remainder of the first phase of development include the construction of industrial projects ranging in size from up to 24,000 to one million square feet. The facilities will meet the current demand for existing airport businesses located at Southern California Logistics Airport, as well as off-airport tenants looking to expand into bigger facilities. SCLA currently employs 3,000 people supporting the following industries: aviation, logistics and manufacturing.

“This first phase of development is an important component of our master plan which is to make Southern California Logistics Airport the economic engine of the Victor Valley,” said Terry Caldwell, City of Victorville Mayor and Southern California Logistics Airport Authority Chairman. “This is the first step toward developing more than 6,000 acres of property for industrial use at SCLA. At build-out, these facilities will help create thousands of local jobs for our residents.”

SCLA’s prime location and supply chain access have been integral in attracting some of the world’s most prestigious companies to develop their facilities in Victorville. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, considered the largest global tire manufacturer, was the first to open its 830,000 square foot facility. M&M/Mars Inc. built a 450,000 square foot distribution facility and began operating in a newly consolidated logistics center, distributing its various candy product throughout the entire Western U.S. Nutro Products, Inc., a premium pet food company, opened a 385,000 square foot distribution center and ConAgra Foods, one of North America’s leading packaged food companies, opened a 245,000-square-foot distribution center.

Southern California Logistics Airport, the former George Air Force Base in Victorville, Calif., is an 8,500-acre multimodal transportation hub supported by air, ground and rail connections. The City of Victorville and Stirling have a public/private partnership agreement to redevelop the former George Air Force Base into SCLA, the largest fully-integrated commercial development in the region, which is anticipated to bring more than 30,000 jobs to the area.

SCLA offers 24-hour, seven-day-a-week operations with onsite U.S. Customs. It has been designated a Foreign Trade Zone and a Local Agency Military Base Recovery Act Zone by the federal government. SCLA has two intercontinental runways and can accommodate all current-flying commercial and military aircraft with 24-hour, seven-day-a-week air tower operations and emergency response capabilities comparable to that of the world’s largest airports.

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