Amazon Takes 2M Square Feet in Southern California in Q1
The tech and ecommerce king signed two leases in the Inland Empire, beautifying otherwise homely numbers for the market
By Greg Cornfield April 9, 2024 3:35 pm
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It’s only fitting that the largest e-commerce company in the U.S. would grab new space in the top industrial market in the nation.
Amazon (AMZN) signed two new leases in Southern California’s Inland Empire in the first quarter of 2024, each more than 1 million square feet, according to data from Savills. One deal was in Ontario and the other was in Jurupa Valley.
The e-commerce giant will take over a recently completed building at 4000 South Hamner Avenue owned by Dermody Properties. It’s near three other large-scale Amazon distribution and fulfillment centers, and in one of the densest warehousing submarkets in the region, near the Ontario International Airport and Ontario Ranch.
Amazon’s second new lease is at 6120 Clinker Drive at the Agua Mansa Commerce Park in Jurupa Valley, owned by CT Realty and PGIM Real Estate. That’s another new industrial complex with five buildings with 4.4 million square feet of rentable space.
The two new Amazon leases were among the five tenant contracts signed for more than 1 million square feet in the first quarter in the Inland Empire, which overshadowed a weakening market. The Inland Empire’s industrial vacancy rate increased 100 basis points in the first three months of the year, and was up 490 bps from the same time last year, to 7.8 percent in the first quarter.
Also, even with the big leases, overall activity decreased by approximately 500,000 square feet, according to Savills. Available sublease space jumped by 33.3 percent, and now totals more than 20.3 million square feet — the highest amount on record. Vacancy is expected to continue to increase this year, the report said.
Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
