Restoration Hardware will build, bring jobs in Stanislaus County

BY J.N. SBRANTI

jnsbranti@modbee.comJune 30, 2014

PATTERSON — It’s official: Restoration Hardware will open a massive 1.5 million-square-foot warehouse and distribution center in Patterson, creating hundreds of jobs in Stanislaus County.

The upscale home furnishings retailer recorded legal documents last week agreeing to lease that soon-to-be-built facility for at least 15 years.

Construction likely will start soon because the contract predicts the warehouse will be built by March 16.

A limited liability company called WR Griffin Patterson bought the 90-acre parcel off Rogers Road from Jeffrey Arambel last week. While the price was not disclosed, documents show the company paid taxes based on a property deal worth about $15 million.

Neither Restoration Hardware nor WR Griffin’s parent company, Weeks Robinson Development & Management of Atlanta, responded to The Modesto Bee’s requests for comment Monday. Those companies have yet to publicly acknowledge their plans.

Patterson city officials also have remained silent about the deal, referring to it simply as Project XX.

Restoration Hardware sells furniture and other high-end home products through its retail galleries, the Internet and catalogs.

The corporation is headquartered in Corte Madera in Marin County. It has stores scattered throughout the United States, plus a couple in Canada, but none in the San Joaquin Valley. The nearest to Modesto is in Walnut Creek.

Weeks Robinson has been developing warehouses for Restoration Hardware for several years. That includes a 1.2 million-square-foot distribution center near Baltimore, Md., and an 858,000-square-foot distribution center near Dallas.

Restoration Hardware also operates a much smaller distribution center in Tracy. It has not been announced what might happen to that facility – and the 100 people who work there – once the Patterson warehouse opens.

How many people the new distribution center will employ hasn’t been revealed, but the approved plans include 371 parking spaces.

Who will build the enormous distribution center hasn’t been announced, either. Workers already have started removing the peach trees that previously covered the property.

“They’re on a really aggressive construction timeline,” Patterson City Manager Rod Butler said. He expects the site’s grading permit to be issued soon.

Once finished, it will be the largest building in Stanislaus County history. Its design shows one continuous building lined with truck docks under a 40-foot-high ceiling.

It will be near the 1 million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center, which opened in the fall. Kohl’s clothing, the CVS Caremark drugstore chain, Grainger industrial supply and Affinia automotive parts also have opened big warehouses in that area since 2006.

Distribution centers are attracted to that area because it offers easy access to Interstate 5.

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