$325M Warehouse Deal In Corona Showcases Industry's IE Focus

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Just how profitable are those giant warehouses being built all over the Inland Empire? Well, the recent sale of a massive Riverside County logistics center is being touted as "the largest ground-lease ownership transfer in the history of the Inland Empire and one of the largest ever in Southern California."

On May 1, Seattle-based Colliers investment management company announced the nearly $325 million sale of Corona Lakeside Logistics Center, a 730,000-square-foot five-building complex located at Sherborn Street and Magnolia Avenue in Corona.

The center was built "on spec" by Los Angeles-based developer Kearny Real Estate Company and was sold to GLP Capital Partners, a privately owned company incorporated in Singapore. It's the same buyer that snapped up the Rider Distribution Center, a 354,810-square-foot industrial facility in Perris. That $90 million deal, also brokered by Colliers, was announced in December.

“The buyer, one of the most active investors in Southern California industrial real estate over the last 18 months, recognized the intrinsic value of [the Corona Lakeside Logistics Center] and is thrilled to be adding it to their growing portfolio of Class A properties," said Michael Kendall, vice chair at Colliers.

The Corona Lakeside Logistics Center is "nestled favorably in Riverside County’s rapidly-growing industrial hub of Corona," according to Colliers.

Kearny Real Estate Company broke ground on the expansive development project in early 2021 and recently wrapped up. The property sits on a fixed-rate ground lease, which the Colliers team structured between Kearny and fee-ownership in 2019.

The Inland Empire is burgeoning with logistics facilities and there is a lot more room to grow. Some argue a public health state of emergency is occurring due to the "unchecked escalation of warehouse growth."

The rise of e-commerce brought unprecedented warehouse growth to the Inland Empire: 1 billion square feet and millions more being constructed at breakneck speed. With the expansion comes urgent concern about the effects that increased truck emissions from the logistics sector are having on air quality and human health — particularly in disadvantaged communities.

Some developers, however, are cheering on the Inland Empire's logistics sector. When Newport Beach-based Birtcher Development announced on Jan. 23 that construction was expected to begin on a 330,048-square-foot distribution facility at the corner of Banana Avenue and Santa Ana Avenue in Fontana, there was reason for the company to be optimistic about the bottom line.

Birtcher is "bullish about the future of the Inland Empire’s industrial market" given the number of active tenants and "limited available space with vacancy just under 1%," according to Brooke Birtcher Gustafson, managing director for the company. "Altogether, we believe these market dynamics continue to justify the need for steady growth and delivery of high-quality product in the near term.”