A 106,088-square-foot warehouse sitting on more than seven acres in one of the most strategic logistics locations in the country has sold for $56 million, an Inland Empire market record based on a per-square-foot basis.
An undisclosed buyer purchased 1933 E. Locust St. in Ontario from Winsford Corporation. The property, in the booming Inland Empire West submarket, features an industrial building constructed in 1989 as well as unpaved land behind the facility. Forbes Industries, a leading manufacturer of hospitality and food and beverage products, currently occupies the space and has asked the new owner for a short-term sale-leaseback agreement.
Stream Realty Partners Senior Vice Presidents Stefan Pastor and Brad Yates represented the seller in the transaction. Pastor and Yates were recruited to Stream, a national real estate services, development, and investment firm, earlier this year to focus on its growing industrial portfolio in the Inland Empire. Michael Kendall, Gian Bruno, and Kenny Patricia of Colliers International partnered to represent the seller on the transaction. James Min of Colliers International represented the buyer.
“We are so pleased that our unique marketing process helped Forbes achieve a record sales price that surpassed even our own expectations,” Pastor said. “The continued climb of land and rent prices set against limited inventory and low vacancy has made the Inland Empire a premier industrial market in North America. The new owner of this property saw its potential immediately. The unpaved land behind the warehouse is an amenity that is very unusual in this submarket.”
The property’s current configuration–with dock-high loading capability, 380 employee parking spaces, concrete truck courts, and heavy power–matches the needs of a broad tenant base. The facility includes amenities such as a 12,772-square-foot office in a location with easy access to Interstates 10 and 15 as well as multiple regional and international airports.
The Inland Empire industrial market serves as a main distribution hub for products moving through the national supply chain from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The West Inland Empire submarket has seen a significant migration of skilled workers in the last 12 months, with employment up 15%. Rental rates and land and property values have benefited from this migration, with prices growing exponentially over the past 18 months.
