Bridge Development Partners buys largest non-portfolio in Inland Empire

Bridge Development Partners has paid $191.11 million for the ourth Street Distribution Center, 1.43-million-square-foot distribution center/fulfillment center and a 23,240-square-foot retail building in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. The sale set a record as the largest non-portfolio sale in the Inland Empire.

JLL marketed the property on behalf of the seller, West Coast Liquidators, Inc. Additionally, working on behalf of the new owner, JLL placed the three-year, floating-rate bridge loan with an institutional advisor. JLL also was awarded the leasing assignment for the property.

Fourth Street Distribution Center was originally developed in 1984. The property is in Rancho Cucamonga, which provides access to the growing Southern California population of more than 25 million people. The property is situated on 91.39 acres at 12434 Fourth Street in the Inland Empire West (IEW) Industrial submarket, an infill market that is one of the most active in the United States, and within a 60-mile radius of more than 17.1 million people. The IEW submarket boasts exceptional access to all points throughout the Los Angeles basin and the greater Southwestern U.S. via its expansive transportation network, which continues to drive logistics demand. Additionally, Fourth Street Distribution Center is within 61 miles of both the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the nation’s largest and busiest container port complex where 40 percent of cargo from overseas enters the United States, is 16 miles from the San Bernardino B.N.S.F Intermodal Yard and proximate to three airports.

“With a 2.3 percent vacancy and only 10.9 million square feet of space under construction in the Inland Empire West, the submarket is poised for another robust year of absorption and continued rising rents,” said Peter McWilliams., international director - industrial services at JLL Capital Markets, who leads the team now representing Bridge Development Partners in the leasing assignment. “Further, the IEW submarket fundamentals are exceptionally strong with user demand outstripping availabilities in the one million-square-foot large box segment. The project is ideally positioned to capture this demand given the central location and features users are seeking in today’s market.”

According to a recent JLL Industrial Insight Report on the Inland Empire, total net absorption is again paced to exceed 20 million square feet by year-end 2019, and developers are racing to clear planning and construction hurdles to meet ongoing demand.