When Chris Sturm required over two acres of commercial property in Greater San Fernando Valley to expand Tropical Creations, Inc., his growing Van Nuys-based horticultural services company, he quickly realized it was easier to find palm trees in Alaska.
“We were looking for multiple acres for a landscaping storage and contracting yard at reasonable costs, but there was nothing available meeting those criteria in the Valley,” said Sturm, president of Tropical Creations.
Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking news alerts delivered right to your inbox
So Sturm enlisted the services of broker Ash Joshi, principal of Capital Realty Solutions Inc. of Encino. Joshi previously guided Sturm to his headquarters facility in Van Nuys, after selling their previous building, a 7000 sq. ft. facility in Northridge, CA.
“Finding land to meet the requirements of Tropical Creations was like finding a needle in a haystack. We were fortunate to uncover a strategically located site of over two acres in Santa Clarita that wasn’t even on the market. Chris said it was close enough to work. A parcel like this doesn’t even exist in the Valley at this size with the suitable zoning,” Joshi said. The site is located at 22957 Sierra Highway at the 5 and 14 Freeways.
Joshi represented Tropical Creations in their leasing of the property. Dennis Verner of SCV Commercial in Santa Clarita represented Gate-King LLC, the property owner. Terms of the lease were not disclosed. Tropical Creations scheduled an end of June occupancy following installation of a mobile office building that will house about five employees.
Established in 1996, Tropical Creations, Inc. provides landscape, hardscape and interior horticultural services throughout Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. This includes design and architecture, landscape construction, hardscape and pavers, sports fields and synthetics, landscape management, interior plantscapes, Bali huts and LA Treeworks. Among the company’s noteworthy projects are the Ross Snyder Baseball Fields in Los Angeles, Reyes Adobe Park in Agoura Hills, Ventura School District, and the landscaping and irrigation for the LA Wetlands project currently being constructed in South Los Angeles.
Tropical Creations employs 45 people and also has storage facilities in Van Nuys and Whittier.