Mayors panel reveals major developments coming to the High Desert

This story is the second in a series covering the 11th annual High Desert Economic and Real Estate Symposium & Forecast.

The recent 11th annual High Desert Economic and Real Estate Symposium & Forecast included government officials discussing past and future developments in their respective municipalities.

The panelists included Adelanto Mayor Gabriel Reyes, Apple Valley Mayor Scott Nassif, Barstow Mayor Paul Courtney, and Victorville Mayor Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Becerra.

Hosted by Coldwell Banker Commercial, nearly 400 people attended the event held March 14 at Victor Valley College in Victorville.

The following are highlights delivered by panel speakers:

Victorville, a 'fast-growing' city  

Mayor Becerra shared that in 2023, Victorville was marked as the 13th fastest-growing city in the U.S. by SmartAsset.

In 2023, Victorville welcomed 200 new businesses, including CarMax, Superior Grocers and the High Desert’s first Sprouts Farmers Market, which received loud cheers and applause from the audience.

A new Raising Cane’s will be located between Winco and the Chevron gas station on Roy Rogers Drive.

The 170-bed, two-story, elder day and clinical care facility dubbed the High Desert Pace Center is scheduled to open sometime this year.

The nearly 18,340-square-foot facility is situated on 2.3 acres south of Bear Valley Road and between Desert Cities Dialysis & High Desert Nephrology and the Gate Church of the High Desert.

The Southern California Logistics Airport will open three large industrial buildings totaling 2.3 million square feet.

A separate 1 million-square-foot building will be constructed next to the new 1.3 million-square-foot Amazon warehouse at SCLA.

A Coca-Cola distribution center will also open at the Foxborough Industrial Park off Nisqualli Road. 

The city is designing a new Victorville Sheriff’s Station that will increase its current space by 60% and accommodate at least 50 more sheriff’s vehicles.

Becerra said the city will reconstruct Bear Valley Road from Amethyst Road to Highway 395.

The new Green Tree Library will be moved to the Victorville Golf Course and the city's animal shelter is under construction at the former Goodwill High School.

Apple Valley welcomes industrial, commercial projects

Mayor Nassif said the town’s North Apple Valley Specific Plan will welcome 20 million square feet of warehousing and industrial development in the entitlement process.

He added that the 2.5 million square foot Covington Development Industrial Campus is also in the works near Stoddard Wells Road and Interstate 15.

Also, the 1.2 million square foot Lock Tech Furniture manufacturing facility near the Big Lots distribution center.

The first built from the “ground-up” Sprouts Farmers Market and Raising Cane’s will be constructed on the south side of Bear Valley Road across from El Pollo Loco.

A Love's Travel Stop will be constructed on the northeast corner of Interstate-15 and Stoddard Wells Road.

Nassif also shared Providence St. Mary Medical Center’s expansion, which includes a trauma center and sexual assault care center.

Nassif said the town plans to widen a portion of Yucca Loma Road, part of a three-phase project that is expected to improve traffic flow.

Most of the increased traffic on Yucca Loma Road comes from the May completion of Victorville’s Green Tree Expansion and Bridge project, which created another east/west corridor from both municipalities.

Nassif mentioned the town council’s approval of the Deep Creek Estates housing project, which will include 99 homes built on 120 acres south of Bear Valley Road.

The project is bordered on the north by Gupan Road, the south by Del Oro Road, the east by Savage Lane, and the west by Deep Creek Road.

Nassif shared that the building that formerly housed the AMC Classic Apple Valley 14 movie theater, which was donated to the town, will be known as the Singh Center for the Arts.

In 2023, the Town Council approved the real property donation agreement with owner Harbinder Singh of HS Cluster LLC, who looked to donate the property located at 22311 Bear Valley Road, Building A, town staff said.

Nassif said the town will rebuild one of the main theaters, where the Apple Valley State of the Town address will be held on April 17.

A 'real estate blitz' expected in Barstow

Mayor Courtney said city staff are preparing for the expected real estate blitz that will come with the construction of BNSF’s proposed $1.5 billion Barstow International Gateway.

Courtney said real-estate marketplace company Zillow, which touts affordable housing on the East Coast, will be encouraged by his staff to discover Barstow’s affordable market.

In January, $250,000 was the median home price in Barstow, the lowest of the 12 regions in the High Desert. The highest was Oak Hills at $600,000, according to Coldwell Banker.

The San Bernardino County Transportation Authority, in cooperation with the City of Barstow and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, is leading the construction effort to build the new North First Avenue Bridge in Barstow.

The new bridge will be approximately 1,179 feet long with a width of 50 feet that will expand to over 62 feet to accommodate a left turn lane leading to the new bridge.

Bridge construction is expected to cost roughly $85 million and is expected to be completed by fall 2024, transportation authority officials stated.

The new bridge will replace the existing two-lane steel and wood North First Avenue Bridge, which was built around 1930 and modified in 1943.

Adelanto excited for new development

Many erupted in laughter when Mayor Reyes stated that in 2023, Adelanto issued 10 permits for projects that included gas stations, and one unpopular business type with High Desert residents, car washes.

“I know, people are tired of car washes, but poor Adelanto doesn’t have any so we’re excited for the two that we do have,” Reyes said.”

In 2024, Adelanto is committed to 13 commercial and industrial development projects, he said.

In 2023, Adelanto issued 93 permits for single-family homes, with a goal of building 5,500 more homes in the future, Reyes said.

Hesperia looks to bolster economic growth

Mayor Pro Tem Swanson said the city is excited about welcoming Maersk, a global logistics and container shipping leader, to the Hesperia Commerce Center.

City officials announced this month that the move by Maersk marks a significant milestone in its ongoing efforts to bolster economic growth and create job opportunities.

Maersk is set to operate from the newly developed Hesperia Commerce Center, which spans over 1.2 million square feet of industrial space at the facility located at 8140 Caliente Road west of Interstate 15.

Swanson said large crowds are common at the new Dairy Queen, which opened on the corner of Bear Valley Road and Cypress Avenue in Hesperia.

She also mentioned the opening of Rosa Maria’s Mexican Restaurant, situated next to Dairy Queen.

Swanson shared that Oasis Buffet will move into the building that once housed Wood Grill Buffet on Main Street and Topaz Avenue.

Swanson also briefly mentioned the construction of the Silverwood master-planned community project.

The project spans 9,366 acres for 15,633 dwelling units, 700,00 square feet of commercial space, and nearly 5,000 acres for parks and open space. The site lies north of Silverwood Lake, located on the West Fork Mojave River, a tributary of the river in the San Bernardino Mountains.

Silverwood General Manager John Ohanian told the Daily Press the project includes nine construction phases that will take about 20 years to develop.

Swanson said the majority of the Ranchero Road widening project should be completed by the end of summer. The project, which began in December 2021, includes major roadwork on Ranchero Road near I-15 and east toward Seventh Avenue.

The project included the removal of the two-lane Ranchero Road and the construction of a five-lane roadway complete with new traffic signals at Maple, Cottonwood, and Seventh avenues.

The project also involves removing the existing two-lane bridge and constructing a new bridge over the California Aqueduct at an estimated cost of $16 million, according to a staff report.

Brightline West

Swanson and Nassif also mentioned the Brightline West high-speed rail project between Rancho Cucamonga and Las Vegas, with passenger stops in Apple Valley and Hesperia.

In 2020, Brightline West entered into a lease agreement with Caltrans to use the existing right of way along I-15 for the $12 billion, 218-mile, all-electric, rail project.

The project is expected to bolster tourism, create 35,000 paying jobs, ease traffic on I-15, and cut more than 400,000 tons of carbon pollution each year.

The goal is groundbreaking of the Brightline West project sometime this year, with completion by summer 2028, in time for the summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Brightline officials said.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz  

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Mayors panel reveals major developments coming to the High Desert