Port of LA Distribution Center

Located within the Port of Los Angeles—the nation’s busiest cargo terminal—the 90-acre former Time Oil Refinery and Tank Farm represented one of Southern California’s most significant industrial redevelopment opportunities, hindered only by complex environmental challenges. The Principals of RES led a joint venture with two local partners to structure and execute the acquisition, which involved a three-party transaction among the purchasing entity, Pacific Refining Company, and Time Oil Company. Acting as environmental risk manager and transaction lead, the RES team assumed oversight of ongoing cleanup activities, indemnified the sellers from future liabilities, and negotiated with the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board to establish final cleanup standards. The team also guided entitlement and development planning, including California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) compliance and coordination with multiple City departments due to the property’s proximity to a closed landfill. The successful remediation and entitlement effort paved the way for redevelopment into approximately 1.8 million square feet of state-of-the-art warehouse and distribution facilities, strengthening the Port’s industrial and logistics economy.