Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE: TRC) is pleased to announce it has reached a development agreement with Rockefeller Group Development Corporation (RGDC) for a joint venture at Tejon Industrial Complex (TIC). The joint venture calls for the designation of 500 acres at TIC as a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) and the development of the property within the FTZ for warehouse/distribution uses.

Rockefeller Group Development Corporation has been involved in the development, management, and ownership of some of the most prestigious and well-known properties in the United States, most notably Rockefeller Center in New York City. For the last 20 years it has also been the leader in foreign trade zone development and management.

“The Rockefeller Group is one of the largest and most successful developers of FTZs in the United States,” says Robert A. Stine, President and CEO of Tejon Ranch Company. “We’re very pleased to be working with a company whose reputation and expertise is second to none.” The joint venture represents The Rockefeller Group’s first major industrial investment on the West Coast.

The Rockefeller Group recently commissioned a commodity flow analysis of imported materials into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to assess trends and the direction of flow of such materials. The study indicated Tejon Industrial Complex is ideally suited for a Foreign Trade Zone designation. In fact, RGDC is already working with IKEA to obtain FTZ designation for the IKEA distribution center at TIC.

“Tejon Ranch’s Tejon Industrial Complex has all the elements that make it the right location for us,” says Tom McCormick, RGDC’s Senior Vice President of Development. “It’s a master-planned industrial center in the heart of California, and it’s one of the few places in the state that has enough land assembled to create the critical mass necessary for a successful FTZ.”

“The fact that Tejon offers direct access to both the ports of LA/Long Beach and the Port of Oakland, makes it a strategic location for all FTZ users looking to operate on the West Coast,” McCormick continued.

There are three main benefits for companies locating at a Foreign Trade Zone. It allows manufacturers or distributors to pay no duty on imported items or raw materials until such goods enter the commerce of the U.S. FTZ users may also receive permission from Customs to move imported items directly from the ports to the FTZ, thereby avoiding delays at congested ports. In addition, the Trade and Development Act of 2000 allows FTZ users to submit weekly reports and pay one broker and processing fee per week, rather than submitting a report and paying a fee for each shipment. This can result in significant potential cost savings.

Tejon Industrial Complex is located at the junction of Interstate 5 and Highway 99, at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, approximately 70 minutes north of Los Angeles. The 1450-acre industrial/commercial complex is already home to IKEA’s Western North American Distribution Center, which serves California and the western United States and Canada.

Tejon Ranch Co. is a diversified real estate development and agribusiness company, whose principal asset is its 270,000-acre land holding located approximately 60 miles north of Los Angeles and 30 miles south of Bakersfield. Rockefeller Group Development Corporation is a subsidiary of The Rockefeller Group, headquartered in New York City.

Contact: Barry Zoeller, Tejon Ranch Company, (661) 248-3000 Sandra Manley, The Rockefeller Group (212) 282-2123