Tejon Ranch Announces New Famous Footwear Warehouse At Tejon Industrial Complex

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Construction Underway for 350,000-Square-Foot Modern Distribution Facility at 23.75-Acre Site within the Recently Approved Tejon Ranch/Rockefeller Group Foreign Trade Zone

TEJON RANCH, Calif. (July 8, 2008) — Tejon Ranch Company (Tejon Ranch) announced today that construction is moving forward on a build-to-suit warehouse facility at Tejon Industrial Complex (TIC) on behalf of Famous Footwear, a retail division of Brown Shoe Company.

The fully entitled, 23.75-acre parcel for the new warehouse at TIC was recently acquired by Clayco Inc., a corporate real estate design-build and construction firm, on behalf of Famous Footwear for construction of an initial 350,000-square-foot distribution facility, with ample land remaining for a future expansion. This parcel is located within the recently approved Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) at TIC, set up by the joint venture between Tejon Ranch and The Rockefeller Group Development Corporation (Rockefeller Group).

“Tejon Ranch is committed to delivering a strategic and sustainable operating location for California’s diverse business community at Tejon Industrial Complex,” said Robert A. Stine, President and CEO of Tejon Ranch. “We are extremely pleased that our master-planned site fit the strategic needs of Famous Footwear and its West Coast warehouse operations.”

Clayco selected the TIC location to fulfill Famous Footwear’s warehouse requirement after a thorough review of potential sites in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Tejon Ranch received critical support during this selection process from Kern Economic Development Corporation, California Business Investment Services, and Kern County. These organizations assisted Tejon Ranch with meeting the critical site review timelines required by Famous Footwear.

“We are pleased that California and Kern County specifically can still offer one of the most accessible, business friendly site locations in the Western States,” said Kern County Supervisor Ray Watson. “The initial 120 full time positions Famous Footwear is expected to bring to Kern County when this modern warehouse facility opens is a boon for the Bakersfield region, offering a critical boost to the local economy with these new, skilled-wage employment opportunities.”

Supervisor Watson also pointed to the strategic importance of Kern County and the Central Valley to California’s growing logistics sector, a key to sustained regional employment growth. This sentiment was echoed by Barry Hibbard, Vice President of Industrial and Commercial Development with Tejon Ranch, who oversees the development and marketing of TIC.

“The Central Valley and TIC are well positioned to serve the needs of the modern logistics operation, which in turn continues to allow the region to capture the employment boost this growing industry sector provides,” said Hibbard. “The fact that TIC was able to meet the strategic demands of Famous Footwear’s logistics model was one of the factors in the company’s site selection decision, with the key motivator being increased value within its supply chain based on distribution and operational efficiencies.”

Hibbard was quick to point the growing importance of logistics, labor and location (the 3L’s of industrial real estate) to today’s large retailers and product driven chains, and how the Central Valley and TIC meets each of these critical elements.

“The master plan for TIC addresses almost every critical issue of the industrial space users’ location decision,” said Hibbard. “TIC provides inbound and outbound efficiencies for goods movement, central to the major consumer markets of California and accessible to all the Western States. The labor base of Kern County and the Bakersfield Region is deep and highly qualified. TIC also features fully entitled land sites able to support modern warehouse facilities, with ample room to expand operations over time.”

Senior Vice Presidents Tom Taylor and John DeGrinis, SIOR, of Colliers International are the brokerage representatives for Tejon Industrial Complex.

Tejon Industrial Complex is a 1,450-acre master planned commercial and industrial development that anchors California’s central trade corridor. Strategically located for efficient logistics at the junction of Interstate 5 and Highway 99 just south of Bakersfield in Kern County, this signature development is already home to 3 million square feet of existing warehouse facilities and approximately 1,000 employees, including IKEA”s Western North American Distribution Center, Oneida Ltd’s West Coast Distribution Center and more than 60-acres of retail offerings, including: a Petro Travel Plaza, Chevron, Best Western Hotel, In-N-Out Burger, a free-standing Starbucks, Panda Express, McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Iron Skillet Restaurant.

Currently, a joint venture between Tejon Ranch Company and Rockefeller Group is developing speculative warehouse buildings and marketing land sites for build-to-suit development within the recently secured 177 acres of Foreign Trade Zone at TIC. The strategic partnership has agreed to develop up to 500 acres to be dedicated to Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) uses. The FTZ will allow manufacturers and distributors to secure the many benefits associated with the streamlined movement, storage and use of imported goods and raw materials. The partnership completed its first 606,000-square-foot warehouse facility earlier this year, and is currently marketing the space for long-term occupancy.

The TIC site is located between the Ports of Los Angeles / Long Beach and Oakland, putting warehouse operators approximately 60 minutes north of Los Angeles and four hours south of Oakland, providing efficient access to the state’s two major port complexes for diversification and contingency. The site allows for efficient outbound, roundtrip delivery service to 96 percent of California’s population and parts of Nevada and Arizona within the current Federal driver hours of service limitations.

About Tejon Ranch Company (NYSE: TRC) Tejon Ranch Company 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. For more information on the company, please go to www.tejonranch.com. For more information on Tejon Industrial Complex, please go to www.tejonranch.com/tic.

About Rockefeller Group Development Corporation (RGDC) RGDC is a national owner, developer, and manager of prestigious commercial real estate properties. Its development capabilities include corporate headquarters, landmark properties, multi-use urban complexes, multinational distribution facilities, suburban business parks, and foreign trade zones. RGDC, with locations in Mt. Olive, NJ, Miami, FL, and Irvine, CA, is an operating company of The Rockefeller Group, developer of the famed Rockefeller Center in New York City. For more information, please logon to www.rockefellergroup.com.