Maersk is taking over a large new distribution facility in Southern California.
The Danish logistics and supply chain company signed a 1.2 million-square-foot lease with landlord and developer Westcore in San Bernardino County, according to Savills. It was the largest industrial signing in the Inland Empire in the fourth quarter of 2023.
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Neither Maersk’s U.S. representative nor Westcore returned requests for comment.
The development is at 8140 Caliente Road in Hesperia, Calif., in what is known as the High Desert submarket. CBRE (CBRE) marketed the property for lease.
In the fourth quarter, absorption in the Inland Empire totaled 3.7 million square feet thanks to large occupier move-ins: clothing company Shein took 1.8 million square feet in Cherry Valley, United Legwear and Apparel Company occupied 1.7 million square feet in Beaumont, and Maersk in Hesperia.
However, despite the positive absorption, Inland Empire’s industrial market vacancy increased 140 basis points in the final three months of the year to 6.5 percent due to historically high construction completions and a large amount of available sublease space, according to Savills’ report. Indeed, 500,000 square feet next to Maersk at 8130 Caliente Road is available for sublease. Additionally, the second-largest lease in the period was a 557,200-square-foot sublease in Redlands.
Savills expects vacancy will continue to climb this year, too.
Westcore has become a major player in California’s industrial market. In September 2023, Commercial Observer broke the news that Westcore paid more than $1 billion for a 3.5 million-square-foot portfolio of fully leased industrial sites in the Golden State, including nine properties in the Inland Empire for $462 million.
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
