Kern County Greenlights Tejon Ranch Apartment Project

Commercial developer Tejon Ranch Co. has announced that the Kern County Board of Supervisors has approved two conditional use permits to authorize development of multi-family apartments at the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center.The approvals will allow Lebec-based Tejon Ranch to develop up to 495 units in 13 apartment buildings, as well as approximately 6,500 square feet of amenity space and 8,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor portion of the residential buildings.“We’re not yet ready to disclose a construction timeframe, only to say we plan to move forward as soon as practicable,” Tejon Ranch Co. Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations Barry Zoeller told the Business Journal.The development will be located on a 27-acre site located immediately north of the Outlets at Tejon.

This new residential project is unrelated to the ongoing Tejon Mountain Village —the company’s 5,082-acre planned project which will feature 3,450 homes, a shopping center, hotel rooms and a pair of golf courses.Tejon Mountain Village has faced some opposition by environmental groups. In December, a California court granted summary judgment entirely in favor of the US. Fish & Wildlife Service and Tejon Ranch Co. in a lawsuit that challenged the 2013 approval of a Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan covering the upland regions of Tejon Ranch.

The Habitat Conservation Plan — a permit issued in compliance with the Federal Endangered Species Act — will protect the California condor and other species found on Tejon Ranch.Tejon Ranch Co. has 270,000 acres of land on the northern edge of Los Angeles County and Kern County.