Dynamic Duo
The father-and-son team that make up The Evans Company are developing two infill projects in Southern California, with plans for more.
Randall Shearin

When Rick Evans left his post as president of The Irvine Company's retail division a few years ago, he couldn't shake the development bug. In early 2003, he founded – along with his son, Fred – The Evans Company, a retail development firm. Based in Palm Desert, California, the company is focusing primarily on retail development in growing areas of the Southwest.

The Village at University Park, Palm Desert, California, will have 130,000 square feet of office space and 100,000 square feet of retail, as well as a three-story Homewood Suites hotel.

“The project is in a growing area, so it will have a lot of services, as well as food uses,” says Rick Evans. “The university orientation as well as the high-end neighborhood orientation will bring many uses to the center.”

Restaurants are popular local eateries like Thai Style and Macarios, a local Mexican restaurant.

“Our niche in this particular market is local, one-of-a-kind long-term business owners,” says Rick Evans. “We will have some national and regional chains, but they will fit the tenant mix we are aiming for with the residential base.”

The Evans Company is developing a 125,000-square-foot grocery- and drug-anchored shopping center on the border of Chino and Ontario, California, called Euclid Plaza.

“What's unique about both of these projects is that they are in fast growing areas,” says Rick Evans. “Palm Desert, for example, is in the center of the Coachella Valley. It is the last   site in the immediate area to be developed. There are about 4,000 new homes under construction there. In Chino, the centers trade area is between the two towns, so it is seeing a lot of growth. Both of these projects are located in typical Southern California infill areas.”

The Evans Company is developing both of its projects in a venture with a single financial partner.

Looking down the road, Rick Evans sees more development of new projects for his company. The company plans to use its first two projects as models for its future development. It plans to develop neighborhood, grocery-anchored centers as well as mixed-use projects in the future that occur in in-fill markets. The company has development relationships with multifamily and single-family developers, as well as hotel developers, to place those elements in any mixed-use projects that may be appropriate.

“We have the desire, with these relationships, to build on the mixed-use concept,” says Rick Evans. “A lot of communities, especially smaller communities, are interested in the mixed-use concept.”

The Evans Company is planning to stay in the Southwestern states with its developments. Rick Evans says that the company intends to focus it attention in Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada.

“We understand this area and we'd like to stick to a geographic region that we're comfortable with,” he says.

Evans also wants to keep the company small. “Our growth strategy is to enhance our current organization by building on the strength of highly skilled specialized consultants that we have developed a great working relationship with. We tap into them on a project-by-project basis, and allow them to take on a limited leadership role,” he says.