The rusting tanks and flare stacks that once processed crude oil in Carson, California, may soon give way to a new generation of logistics warehouses built for electric truck fleets and high-volume imports moving through the nation’s busiest port complex.
Developers Catellus and Deca unveiled plans for the Carson side of the former Phillips 66 refinery in Los Angeles County in applying to redevelop the 223-acre property into a nearly 3.91 million-square-foot campus called Diamond Gateway. It would include six warehouses, cross-dock distribution, truck parking and connection upgrades for nearby Interstate 405 and Interstate 710.
The site represents half the refinery, with the Carson portion planned for logistics reuse as the Wilmington side is separately redeveloped into Five Point Union, a large-scale project bringing thousands of homes, retail space and other uses. Together, the projects show how one of the region’s most prominent legacy industrial complexes is repositioned for a post-refining future.
For commercial real estate investors, the Carson project at 1520 E. Sepulveda Blvd. offers a rare chance to build millions of square feet of industrial property in one of the country’s most supply-constrained warehouse markets.
The refinery operated for more than a century before Phillips 66 shuttered it at the end of 2025 amid long-term concerns about declining gasoline demand. Now the site’s future is shifting from fuel production toward goods movement, with plans calling for demolition of 16 refinery buildings and 45 storage tanks before construction can begin.
"A redevelopment opportunity of this scale, this close to the ports, is exceptionally rare," said Jesse Gundersheim, CoStar senior director of market analytics. "Logistics users want modern and increasingly larger facilities that reduce transportation time and improve throughput, and sites like this can offer that in ways existing industrial properties often cannot."
Unusually large facilities planned
The sheer size of the logistics facilities planned for the site, including three buildings spanning over 1 million square feet apiece, is particularly rare in greater Los Angeles, Gundersheim said.
Most of the industrial building supply within 10 miles of the ports is more than 30 years old, built when smaller building sizes with lower clear heights were common, and when warehouses spanning 1 million square feet were unimaginable.
In recent decades, no industrial land sites near the ports could accommodate a building of that size.
"Diamond Gateway, alongside the Five Point Union redevelopment at the former Wilmington refinery, is poised to give large logistics players a rare opportunity to lease massive new buildings close to the ports," Gundersheim said.
Next steps for Diamond Gateway include a lengthy environmental review process, negotiations over entitlements and years of remediation work before vertical construction can fully ramp up.
Developers said the six-building campus could be built in one roughly 2.5-year phase or spread across multiple phases lasting up to 5.5 years, depending on tenant demand and market conditions.
Cleanup questions remain
The Carson proposal follows redevelopment plans for the Wilmington portion of the former Phillips 66 refinery near the Port of Los Angeles. That separate project, Five Point Union, pairs large-scale housing with retail, open space and buffers intended to separate new development from nearby industrial uses.
Diamond Gateway leans more heavily into logistics, reflecting Carson’s surrounding landscape of refineries, container yards and freight infrastructure. Three of the planned warehouses are designed as cross-dock facilities with loading bays on both sides to accommodate rapid cargo movement tied to port activity.
Still, the project faces significant environmental and political hurdles before construction can begin. Planning documents show redevelopment would involve removal of more than 500,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and roughly 12,000 cubic yards of asbestos-containing material requiring specialized disposal.
Environmental groups and community advocates say the refinery closure underscores broader concerns about how California handles aging oil facilities and their cleanup obligations.
A recent report from the Asian Pacific Environmental Network and Communities for a Better Environment described refinery closures as “the Wild West,” citing limited end-of-life planning requirements and uncertainty around long-term remediation accountability.
“We’re counting on the Water Board to exercise a firm hand to ensure that Phillips 66 completes a prompt and thorough cleanup of the toxic mess they’ve created, and doesn’t saddle our community with it,” Alicia Rivera, Wilmington organizer with Communities for a Better Environment, said in the report.
The city of Carson has moved to tighten oversight of redevelopment on former refinery land, establishing detailed planning requirements and a task force involving regulators and residents.
The proposal now enters a full environmental impact review that will examine truck traffic, air quality, hazardous materials and water contamination as developers pursue what could become one of California’s largest industrial brownfield redevelopments.