TINA FORDE, Valley Press Business Editor
December 17, 2005
Firm plans commercial condos
 
In its first major foray into the Southern California market, a Mill Valley development firm is moving into Lancaster and Palmdale with plans to build office and commercial condominium properties.
-
Venture Corporation Inc., has acquired 9.3 acres of land in Lancaster for medical and office condominiums and has in escrow another property for commercial and high-end industrial condominium units.
-
The Lancaster project, designed to attract buyers in the medical field, is due to break ground in January and should be completed in October. It is located north of Avenue J between 16th and 17th streets west, across from the Antelope Valley Medical Center. The project consists of two two-story buildings, ranging in size from 7,000-to 10,000-square feet. Each building will be subdivided into for-sale units of 1,200 to 5,000 square feet.
 
According to information form Venture Corporation, the Palmdale project - to be called Venture Commerce Center - will feature 35 privately owned properties ranging from 1,139 to 2,656 square feet in five separate buildings. Most have two stories and all have finished restrooms. The rear side of most of the properties, Venture Corporation says, will have storefront windows with a glass access door and others will have a roll-up truck door.
 
The Palmdale buildings should be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2006. "Lancaster is different in that it needs street widening," Marciniak said. The developer will widen 16th and 17th streets west, bring in utilities and put in curbs and gutters. Venture Corporation, according to a recent press release, is the West Coast's largest builder of privately owned commercial buildings for small companies.
 
"They have developed a concept popular in Northern California," Marciniak said. "They feel the concept will be popular in other areas of California. They were drawn to the growth in the Antelope Valley and decided to invest in the area. They were impressed by the amount of residential development, especially with respect to the Palmdale location, and the other commercial activity in the area. In Lancaster they saw opportunity in the proximity to the Antelope Valley Hospital." The company is known for its Morgan Hill Ranch development, Silicon Valley's largest business park.
-