The District at Panama Lane Bakersfield, CA
The Area
Bakersfield located just north of Los Angeles is one of the major cities that have been experiencing an increase in population and income, which has created more job opportunities in the area. The City has been particularly aggressive in trying to approve more service jobs to help support their escalating population. The Bakersfield market is one of the highest income demographic levels in the central valley with employment in oil, agriculture, production and transportation to most parts in the United States. Knowing that several national retailers at the time were pushing to position themselves in a rising economic area Bakersfield was the go-to city other than Los Angeles to expand their stores.
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The Opportunity
Meeting with the city planners and council members, Baycrest set its team to work on implementing a development strategy on constructing a major power center along the south corridor of the Interstate 99 highway. The proposed strategy was to have two anchored tenants, Lowes and Wal-Mart Supercenter, with the addition of two retail pads surrounding the anchors on Panama Lane. The two pads front Panama Lane and Colony Street which is the entrance to the shopping center. Meeting with the City, Lowes and WalMart, Baycrest was given the development approval to construct the two entrance pads while Lowes and WalMart constructed their own buildings. The entitlements for the pads included obtaining approval for a drive-thru Wendy’s restaurant, along with a 7,000 square foot building adjacent to the Wendy's. With Baycrest’s thorough knowledge and experience with construction and leasing, the shopping center went under way and was built. The project was 100% pre-leased before construction and completed with national tenants such as Starbucks Coffee, Panda Express, Wendy’s and Quizno’s.
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The Results
Baycrest created and finalized The District at Panama Lane. Upon completion of the property, Baycrest achieved 100% occupancy. Capitalizing on the cash flow from the property, Baycrest was able to distribute all investment capital back to its equity partners upon the funding of the permanent loans while still enjoying a strong monthly cash flow to all partners.