TechCenter.Net

Saying the decision to approve the plan took "vision and courage," Davis said he would urge other communities to "hopefully adopt your model, lock, stock and barrel."

Echoing city officials, Davis said the project will bring affordable housing, economic development and new transportation options. The plan calls for establishing a transportation program that includes carpooling, bicycling and improving the bus system.

Hermosa Beach has threatened to sue Redondo Beach over the project, claiming it's too dense and would create huge traffic problems. Many Redondo Beach residents who argued against the project still hope the Coastal Commission will turn it down.

Davis commented at the grand opening of the Redondo Information Technology Center, a 220,000-square-foot office building included in the Heart of the City plan. The building provides high-tech amenities such as broadband access and a backup power system, The event drew nearly 300 politicians and business people.

"This Tech Center is what California is all about; new technology new innovations ... new jobs," Davis said.

Abernethy also welcomed the building's newest tenant telecommunications provider TyCom, which signed a 15-year lease for 25,000 square feet of space.

Rep, Jane Harman, D-Redondo Beach, also praised the building during the event "By pulling together the resources of the tenants in this office, what Bob Abernethy is doing is making sure were leveraging our technology," Harman said. "We won the Cold War with the technology and resources here and we're going to win the war on terror with the technology and resources here."

Redondo Beach City Councilman John Parsons said he was pleased with Davis' comments.

"I'm glad that the state is recognizing the model we're creating to make a liveable community," Parsons said.

Technology Center developing
The Redondo Information Technology Center has done well since its opening last year.

When Congresswoman Jane Harman made her headquarters in south Redondo Beach's Catalina Corridor last year, it was a major coup for the fledgling Redondo Information Technology Center, which at the time didn't have a tenant.

Harman was presented the Key to the City by Redondo Beach Mayor Greg Hill in January of 2001, a few weeks after the 36th District congresswoman was newly re-elected. At that presentation, Harman said she chose the Technology Center because of the state-of-the-art technology it would offer, including fiber-optic cabling.

Just under a year later, the Technology Center has nearly 20 tenants and is 65 percent occupied. This figure includes two companies that signed leases last week, according to David Herbst, spokesman for the center.

"We do not have a certificate of occupancy for the rest of the building," Herbst said. "Construction has been done in stages. Hopefully soon we will have the entire building occupied."

In the bowels of the Technology Center are 25,000 square feet of storage units, which are currently filled. Another floor of storage units is 60-percent full. According to Herbst this allows the builders, American Standard Development Company, to pay the mortgage, regardless of the condition of the economy.

Because of this, the builders can be selective about which tenants occupy its building.

Herbst said there will be an announcement later this month or early February about a new 50,000-square-foot tenant for the Technology Center. He would not comment on whom that tenant is.

The $16 million, 220,000-square-foot Technology Center, which started construction in 1998, houses not only high-tech companies such as Advanced Power Devices and Cytrix Technology, but tenants like Bay Cities National Bank.

Bay Cities president Mark Smith said the company moved in for several reasons, including the impending redevelopment of the harbor area. The bank was able to be on the ground floor of the Technology Center and Bay Cities will be the sole bank located in the center. "We expect this place to be filled up soon," Smith said.

Daily Breeze - December 3, 2001

Tech center holding its own
REDONDO BEACH: Officials express optimism that office complex geared toward information age will be filled despite dot-com woes.

By Eddie North-Hager

The dot-com bubble burst. Start-up firms stopped.

And the Redondo Information Technology Center opened its doors.

Talk about bad timing.

But you won't hear any pessimism from center officials despite having a nearly empty building for almost a year.

"We are past the break-even point," said Robert Abernethy, president of American Standard Development Co., which developed the project."Things are coming around. This is here to stay for 30 years. We are in a momentary blip in time."

Appearances at this brightly colored belie-moth just blocks from the beach on North Catalina Avenue aren't what they seem.

The building that is wired for the future has its foundation literally resting on the old economy.

The basement holds about 150 storage rooms for rent that are full. And next door the Redondo/Hermosa Mini Storage, a sister venture, has another 750 paying customers.

"The debt service is covered by mini-storage," said center spokesman David Herbst. "Because of that, we are not under the same pressure to rent office space to pay mortgage. Even with a downturn in the economy, there are no worries." In a poor economy, storage space is at a premium as companies downsize and need a place for documents and office furniture, Herbst said.

But that is just a side business in this $16.5 million, four-story marvel constructed especially for Internet entrepreneurs, software developers and fledgling dot-coms.

The 220,000 square feet has high-speed fiber optic cable and multiple backup power supplies with offices as small as 500 square feet. Though only 30 percent of the building is occupied, interest is rising, Herbst said. Companies that are getting smaller are calling and companies looking for satellite offices-such as Hostica.com-are checking out the premises. Jay Jeszenka, founder of the Torrance-based Web-hosting and e-mail provider, found his new office while driving around Redondo Beach. He was looking for a building that would guarantee electricity, fiber-optic connections and be fire and earthquake resistant so he could provide reliable service to his 6,000 customers.

"We needed a tech center that's bulletproof and this is about as bulletproof as you can get," Jeszenka said. "This is different from everything I've ever seen."

Market indicators point toward a bright future for buildings like the Technology Center.

In the South Bay, where only 2 percent of available property is considered high tech, leasing activity increased in the third quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

"This modest trend should continue as tenants, though still very cautious, discover the abundance of new state-of-the-art space available especially for the larger requirements," the study stated.

And the South Bay's leasing rates, averaging $1.83 per square foot, are a bargain compared with the $3.10 per square foot average in West Los Angeles, according to Colliers Seeley Office Market Report. The Technology Center runs about $1.75 per square foot, Herbst said. There are at least three other buildings specially wired for technology in the South Bay.

The All Internet Building near Artesia Boulevard and Inglewood Avenue managed to attract new leaseholders while other tenants expanded even as the economy soured.

"Yes, we were worried but not overly worried," All Internet Building manager Arthur Herring said. "We certainly did lose some tenants, but we managed to replace them."

The building was rewired in 1999 and has been near capacity ever since.

"What we have done in our building is take Internet connection and elevate it to the same status as electricity and water," Herring said. "We give it away as part of our included amenities in the building."

While the All Internet Building has freeway access to lure customers, the Redondo Information Technology Center has the Santa Monica Bay.

"This is an easy sell for a startup company run by an entrepreneur that lives around here," Abernethy said. "These guys like to be near the water."

South Bay Congresswoman Jane Harman, who in January was the first to move in, has been joined by Gibson Guitars and Bay Cities National Bank among others.

"With the economic slowdown it got caught in the middle," Redondo Beach City Manager Lou Garcia said. "We're in an area where the high-tech business, particularly the smaller ones, like to be. We are not a big community and we are not an industrial city. But we have the capacity to form a niche and get the kinds of businesses that want to be here."

Congressman Dick Gephardt Tours TechCenter
Bob Abernethy, developer of the Redondo TechCenter (left) and House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt are pictured in front of a display on NavCom Technology, one of the high-tech tenants located at TechCenter. Congressman Gephardt toured TechCenter in late August.

Lieutenant Governor visits the Technology Center
California Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante (left) is pictured with TechCenter owner Bob Abernethy during the Lieutenant Governor's July visit to Redondo Beach. "It was an honor to have the Lieutenant Governor visit the TechCenter," said Abernethy, "His interest in our building demonstrates the importance that high technology plays in the future of the California economy."