Heavy equipment rental specialist Red Mountain Machinery last week announced plans to close the Escondido, Calif., facility that has been its headquarters since 1996 and open a new facility in Riverside County. Moving to the Riverside area will allow Red Mountain to extend its service area into the Inland Empire, the high desert area, Palm Springs and Los Angeles, while still allowing it the ability to service its San Diego-area customers.

“Over the past couple of years, we have noticed our rentals trending more and more into Riverside, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties,” said Owen Cowing, Red Mountain CEO. “Our market studies also indicate that the majority of growth in Southern California will also be in these areas. For our San Diego customers, they too are finding that most of their work is north of San Diego County. We feel that we will better serve the industry by being located more centrally in the area of greatest activity.”

Cowing added that lack of available land for home-building and high property values in San Diego have contributed to the migration of business from San Diego County to Riverside County. U.S. Census Bureau studies show that new home construction in Riverside is outpacing San Diego by a 4:1 ratio and with the addition of San Bernardino County, the ratio is 6:1.

Red Mountain Machinery has yet to decide on a new facility, but plans to be in its new location by the end of the year. Red Mountain marketing director Chris McDonald told RER the company has looked at a few facilities and hopes to move within 60 to 90 days.

The move is also influenced by new California Air Resources Board regulations on off-road vehicles. Compliance dates are determined by size of fleet. A smaller fleet would give Red Mountain a later compliance date and therefore lower the cost of compliance. By moving to a smaller facility, McDonald said, the company could operate with a smaller fleet, and have the flexibility to enlarge fleet size if business conditions justify.

With locations in Escondido, Chandler, Ariz.; and North Las Vegas, Red Mountain Machinery is No. 51 on the RER 100.