In-N-Out Burger will soon be in a shopping center near you. The 66-year-old fast-food chain that specializes in hamburgers that people from far and wide come to enjoy, will finally establish a presence in Gardena.
“They were kind of in a holding pattern for a while,” said Raymond Barragan, Quality Control Manager of Gardena’s Community Development Department. “They now have said that they are ready to go so hopefully, we’ll be pulling permits within the next month or so.”
In-N-Out Burger will soon be in a shopping center near you. The 66-year-old fast-food chain that specializes in hamburgers that people from far and wide come to enjoy, will finally establish a presence in Gardena.
“They were kind of in a holding pattern for a while,” said Raymond Barragan, Quality Control Manager of Gardena’s Community Development Department. “They now have said that they are ready to go so hopefully, we’ll be pulling permits within the next month or so.”
In addition, the city will also see the opening of the Spring Park Senior Villa, a 36-unit center designed for income-qualified residents 62 years and older. Yvonne Mallory, Gardena’s Economic Development Manager, said the center, which is located on the corner of El Segundo Boulevard and Wilton Place, is scheduled to complete construction by December.
Both Barragan and Mallory say that Gardena is a city that is on the rise with several big businesses looking to stake their claim to a piece of Gardena real estate.
“We have Panda Express, which was just approved,” Barragan said. “They’re coming into the (Gardena) Marketplace, which is on the corner of Artesia and Western. There are tons of things going on there. Just recently Chipotle opened up, Yogurtland, just opened up, and a Jersey Mike’s [Subs) is coming in.”
Best Western recently broke ground for the construction of a 64-room hotel on Western Avenue and BB Plaza, also on Western but just north of Redondo Beach Boulevard; recently completed phase one of their structure, which will house two new businesses: Tokyo Bento and Caffe Bene.
Barragan said that BB Plaza just got approved for a second phase, which will add 5,000 square feet of space for even more restaurants or other businesses.
Just east of the Gardena Marketplace, developer NBK currently has Rascals Teriyaki Grill and Gatten Sushi in what is known as a vertical- use property. A Subway sandwich eatery also relocated to this area. This means that the property can house several types of businesses in one location.
In addition to the two restaurants, the property also currently houses 90 townhomes and live/work units, which have been sold already. The property was recently approved for an additional 60 units: 30 town homes and 30 live/work units.
So what is it about Gardena that is causing new businesses to flock to the 5.9 square mile city?
Mallory said Gardena One Stop is one of several reasons for the city’s economic growth.
With Gardena One Stop, businesses can take advantage of a convenient resource for all of their business needs. Services include recruiting and pre-screening applicants, on the job training, interviewing assistance, and computerized job matching as well as providing a space for posting print or online job listings.
Another reason for Gardena’s business growth is their Gardena Incentives Program. One of the incentives for businesses to come to Gardena is the Five Percent Small Business Credit Award. Any small business that sets up shop in Gardena is eligible to receive up to $12,500 on contracts up to $250,000.
Recently, this program was extended to the business enterprises of disabled veterans. The incentive program also grants rebates to commercial and industrial businesses of up to $10,000. In addition to the monetary awards, the Gardena Incentives Program also offers outstanding business award recognition as well as one-stop site plan development.
Recently, Gardena was awarded a new Designated Geographic Area (DGA) by the state, which allows Gardena to set aside that land for economic and business purposes.
“Basically, there are three new tax incentives to encourage more businesses to come into our DGA,” Mallory said. “a hiring credit, a research R&D credit, and an equipment tax credit.”
In addition to new businesses building their sites from scratch, Barragan says that he is seeing new developers reactivating or reusing existing properties that had been blighted.
“1310 Rosecrans was Alpha Beta which was vacant for quite some time,” Barragan said. “There’s a Dollar Tree there now and there is opportunity for another tenant space there and we’re happy about that.”
Barragan said that Central Nursing School, which was approved for construction on Redondo Beach Boulevard, was previously a bank.
“They’re going to be bringing new students there who will be eating and shopping in Gardena,” he said.
Now that the city is getting In-N-Out Burger as well as other lucrative businesses into the city, Barragan says he is seeing a trickle-down effect where businesses outside of the city are seeing the success of the local businesses, which is making the new businesses want to relocate to Gardena.
Mallory says that more than anything, she wants to see local businesses succeed.
“We want businesses locally to do well so that if other [non-local] businesses hear about that, then they will want to do business here as well,” Mallory said.
One of the biggest efforts in beautifying the city and making it business-friendly has been the work that has been done on the Rosecrans Corridor, a stretch of Rosecrans Avenue that has seen significant improvement within the past seven years.
The plan for the Rosecrans Corridor is to link the retail needs of residents with business attraction supported by a strong industrial job base and increased housing opportunities.
Mallory, who has been working on the Rosecrans Corridor for several years, said it began with the installation of a traffic light requested by residents to curb accidents in the area. Improvements then spread to landscaping the area, which included repaving parking lots and planting trees and bushes.
While businesses outside of the city are clamoring for the success that local businesses are experiencing, other cities are taking notice.
“I had a call from a city asking me how I do certain things,” Mallory said. “[For example,] What kind of a program do we have to attract minority businesses? Things like that.”
In terms of future development, Barragan says that the city will continue on its current track of attracting great businesses by continuing to provide good reasons for businesses to come to Gardena such as the tax incentives and beautiful landscape.
“We’re in a good place right now,” Barragan said. “We’re seeing a lot of interest in people wanting to develop here and invest money here so as we move forward, I think we’re looking at improving on our development standards and making sure there is enough landscape to ensure a softening of the city.”
