Prologis is continuing to expand throughout the Inland Empire with its most recent purchase of a 303,100 square-foot industrial asset in Riverside. According to a source with knowledge of the transaction, the property traded this month in a deal worth $83.5 million, or about $275 per square foot.
The property, which is located on 30.19 acres at 6975 Sycamore Canyon Boulevard, last traded hands in 2017. At that time, it was acquired by MAT Holdings Inc., an Illinois-based manufacturing company. The company purchased the asset for just $28.2 million, or $93 per square foot. The company remains at the location and currently uses the facility as its West Coast distribution center.
The building is strategically located in Riverside, one of the Inland Empire’s top performing industrial submarkets. Neighboring the property are a variety of warehouse, manufacturing and distribution facilities, with occupants including Amazon, Burlington and Ralphs Grocery. The property is also a short drive from Interstate 215.
The new owner of the property, Prologis, is a global industrial developer and investor with many properties located throughout Southern California. In total, the company owns and manages assets in 19 countries, totaling approximately 1 billion square feet.
Prologis continues to make big moves in Southern California. Currently, the company is working to complete a 7.1 million square-foot industrial park along Merrill Avenue in Ontario, with 4.1 million square feet already pre-leased to Amazon. In another recent lease transaction, the company leased 136,200 square feet at 14522 Yorba Avenue in Chino to Sunset Pacific Transportation. Further, the company recently acquired Pacific Vista, a 322,262 square-foot office campus in Lake Forest, Calif. for $96 million, or about $298 per square foot.
In general, industrial activity in Southern California has been consistent, with the Inland Empire recently hitting a record low vacancy rate of 0.3 percent. A first quarter industrial market report from CBRE shows that as vacancy has decreased in the Inland Empire, average rental rates have grown by more than 74.6 percent over the past year to a new record high of $1.23 per square foot per month. In total, gross activity has increased by 1.4 percent from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2022, with about 13 million square feet absorbed during this time.
