Ares Buys Orange County Distribution Center for $64M

Ares Management (ARES) put down $64 million to become the new owner of an industrial distribution building in Southern California.

A fund managed by the investment firm acquired the 258,506-square-foot building in Westminster in Orange County, Calif., Cushman & Wakefield (CWK) announced. Clarion Partners (CPREX) sold the property spanning 11.8 acres at 7400 Hazard Avenue, records show. The asset was about 73 percent leased at the time of the sale.

The Orange County industrial market ended 2023 with a vacancy rate of 2.7 percent, which made it the tightest market in Southern California, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s latest market report. 

Cushman & Wakefield’s Jeff Chiate, Jeffrey Cole, Rick Ellison and Matt Leupold represented Clarion in the transaction. C&W’s Randy Ellison and Kyle McGillen advised on leasing and were also retained to lead leasing efforts for the asset.

“Orange County remains one of the most desired industrial markets in the U.S. due to its proximity to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and several millions of consumers, along with its exceptional access to labor and Southern California’s robust freeway network,” Ellison said in a statement.

Other recent industrial deals in Orange County include Tishman Speyer and Mitsui Fudosan America paying $145.9 million for a 32-acre, fully entitled industrial development site in Irvine, and Blackstone selling a 3 million-square-foot portfolio in Orange and L.A. counties to Rexford Industrial Realty for $1 billion.

Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.