[TRC] – Tejon Ranch Co. and The Rockefeller Group have entered into a Letter of Intent to partner in the development of The Outlets at Tejon Ranch, a premier outlet center that is being planned for one of California’s busiest highway junctures, where Interstate 5 and Highway 99 meet just south of Bakersfield. A new outlet center at that location would serve as the primary outlet retail offering for the 3.2 million residents living in Bakersfield and the Northwest Los Angeles County communities of Santa Clarita, Valencia, Castaic, Lancaster and Palmdale, and would also reach the millions of travelers on Interstate 5 who have already transformed the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center into California’s favorite stopping center.

The Rockefeller Group is a leading global real estate owner, developer and investor. It was founded more than 80 years ago to develop Rockefeller Center in New York, one of the world’s premier examples of successful mixed-use development combining prime office and retail space in a superior location. Since that time, The Rockefeller Group has completed nearly 40 million square feet of development projects throughout the United States. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd., one of the world’s largest real estate investment and development companies, which has completed eight outlet centers in Japan.

“We are very pleased to have the opportunity to expand our partnership with Tejon Ranch Company and to develop what we believe will become the region’s destination retail outlet center,” said Kevin R. Hackett, President and CEO of The Rockefeller Group.

Tom McCormick, a Senior Vice President for The Rockefeller Group’s development division who oversees the company’s western region initiatives, added, “Tejon Ranch’s Commerce Center has already proven to be an extremely successful retail location, and The Outlets at Tejon Ranch’s primary fixed consumer markets of Bakersfield and Northwest Los Angeles County represent a rich opportunity for outlet retailers.”

Tejon Ranch Company is a publicly traded diversified real estate development and agribusiness company whose primary asset is California’s historic Tejon Ranch. Located between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, the 270,000-acre ranch is the largest single piece of private property in the state.

“We are looking forward to once again joining forces with The Rockefeller Group,” said Robert A. Stine, President and CEO of Tejon Ranch Company. “They have already proven to be excellent and astute partners in our industrial real estate development efforts, and we have every confidence that together, we’ll develop one of the country’s most successful outlet centers.”

Infrastructure work at the site has already begun and the companies are targeting a Spring 2014 opening date. Leasing of The Outlets at Tejon Ranch is being handled by EWB Development, one of the country’s foremost experts in outlet leasing, marketing and development.