Even as its population grows, the city of Moreno Valley is being intentional in its economic development efforts and focusing on cultivating “quality of place,” says Kyle Warsinski, the city’s economic development director.

The California municipality “is evolving into a complete city,” said Warsinski, who took on his present role nearly a year ago after heading development efforts in other Inland Empire towns.

“We’re investing in creating gathering places that give Moreno Valley a sense of place,” he said, “while delivering housing units to ensure the individuals and families moving here and our existing residents continue to have access to housing at an accessible price point.”

The steps the economic development team has taken to execute the city's long-term vision and strategy are bearing fruit, Warsinski said.

In 2024, the city adopted its current economic development strategic plan, which outlines specific actions to bring to life the city’s vision for overall growth, business development and workforce development.

“This plan is our guidebook and manual,” Warsinski said. “The city council approved the plan after conducting several sessions with data gathering of current programming, industry trends and city statistics.”

The document, which he called a “logical expansion” of the 2016 Momentum MoVal plan, but focused solely on economic development, helped city officials home in on top priorities, areas of strength and initiatives with the highest chances of success.

“Our vision is for Moreno Valley to become a destination city and business hub for a diversity of industries, with a strong economy, active gathering places and livable neighborhoods,” Warsinski said.

Moreno Valley is one of the Inland Empire’s fastest-growing cities and the 20th-largest city in California. Its population has grown to 215,000, and the city continues to attract new residents.

“Income levels have almost doubled in the last 10 years,” Warsinski said. “As a result, the people moving to the region have shaped our story. We are a young city, and young families are moving here because it’s affordable, but with higher incomes come higher expectations.”

It is a challenge city officials welcome.

“The goal is to make people feel they can put down roots here,” Warsinski said.

Officials are committed to ensuring that Moreno Valley continues to evolve as a dynamic, well-rounded city where residents can live, work and play.

By fostering a diverse economy, expanding quality-of-life amenities and creating opportunities across multiple industries, the city is building a strong foundation where each investment reinforces the next and drives long-term momentum.

To be sure, Moreno Valley has a strong industrial sector presence.

“Logistics and manufacturing makes sense here,” Warsinski said.

The city is located in Southern California, 60 miles inland from the two largest ports in the United States as well as near Interstate 10.

But the city’s economic development team deploys both proactive and reactive methods to attract other kinds of industries to set up shop locally.

“We’re constantly out there talking to brokers, business owners, venture capitalists and developers that are looking to do projects,” he said. “We work with both external stakeholders outside of Moreno Valley who we are trying to attract, as well as those already in the city.”

Some recent successes have been in the healthcare realm, which is significant because the Inland Empire has historically suffered from a low patient-to-physician ratio, Warsinski said.

Expansions of the local Riverside University Health System and Kaiser Permanente campuses, as well as Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital’s new Moreno Valley clinic that serves both children and adults, have all moved the needle in improving that ratio, Warsinski said.

Beyond those developments, real estate and infrastructure projects have taken center stage.

Aquabella Project

As the population of Moreno Valley continues to grow, the city has focused on ensuring an adequate supply of attainably priced housing for new and existing residents.

“That means density,” Warsinski said.

Aquabella, what city officials call a “catalyst project,” is a master-planned ground-up development that will create 15,000 multifamily units as well as a luxury hotel, upscale shopping and dining, parks and schools on 600-plus acres of vacant land.

The development is expected to accommodate at least 45,000 residents in a mix of housing types, including apartments, townhomes and condominiums, and will take approximately 15 years to complete, Warsinski said.

“The vision for Aquabella is to create a community where residents can access shopping, dining and everyday essentials with a short walk or bike ride, leaving their cars parked in their garage,” Warsinski said.

Town Center

Aquabella is not the only example of how Moreno Valley is embracing horizontal mixed-use.

The city has also approved a 167K SF project called Moreno Valley Town Center that will deliver the “downtown feel” the city has been missing. It will feature a carefully curated and walkable grocery-anchored retail experience, with opportunities for fitness, dining, neighborhood services and hotel uses along with a 30K SF civic facility.

Thousands of housing units are planned or under construction within a 2-mile radius of the town center, which is expected to create built-in customer demand for the center’s offerings, Warsinski said.

Average household incomes in the city exceed $121K. The development is also near Moreno Valley’s medical corridor.

Immersive Museum

Moreno Valley city officials partnered with a purveyor of multisensory experiences, Lighthouse Immersive, to bring an immersive museum, art space and café to a former Sears location at Moreno Valley Mall.

“It’s part of our effort to activate the site and give people something to do and get excited about,” Warsinski said.

The idea behind the Moreno Valley Museum and ArtSpace is to bring something new, in terms of art experience and recreation, to Southern California, he said.

The facility will feature an experiential museum showcasing Moreno Valley’s heritage, two immersive art exhibition galleries, a shop and café, as well as meeting and event spaces for community programming.

“It’s going to be both educational and fun,” Warsinski said.

Quality Of Place

As Moreno Valley grows as a population center and employment hub, the spending power of its residents drives more job creation and more demand for retail and city services.

Warsinski said the city is well placed to continue its positive momentum, thanks in part to ample available land on which to build.

“Not all cities have this luxury,” Warsinski said. “We can build horizontally, and of our 51 square miles, around 30% to 40% is raw land that we can still develop. We’re going for scale with our mixed-use developments.”

This article was produced in collaboration between the city of Moreno Valley and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

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