Rexford Buys Another Inland Empire Industrial Property for $70M

The warehousing market in Southern California’s Inland Empire is rebounding after a couple of years of shrinking growth, thanks in part to sizable trades made by the likes of Rexford Industrial Realty.

Case in point: The Los Angeles-based logistics giant acquired a 278,650-square-foot property in San Bernardino County for $70.1 million from seller Cabot Properties, according to property records. The deal was equal to almost $252 per square foot. 

Rexford bought the asset just after the end of the third quarter, according to the real estate investment trust’s latest earnings call.

Constructed in 1989, the facility at 13201 Dahlia Street in the city of Fontana was fully leased to electrical equipment provider Eaton Electrical at the time of the sale.

JLL (JLL) negotiated the deal between Rexford and Cabot with a team led by Mark Detmer, Patrick Nally and Evan Moran, while the brokerage firm’s Inland Empire team was led by Mike McCrary, Jeff Bellitti, Ruben Goodsell and Hunter McDonald.

“The property’s strategic location, unique functionality and full occupancy at a market rate made it an attractive investment opportunity in one of the nation’s most competitive industrial markets,” Detmer said in a statement.

Representatives for Rexford and for Cabot did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Logistics and e-commerce firms closing on leases with immediate start dates led to a strong showing for industrial activity in the Inland Empire in the third quarter, with the region’s vacancy rate dropping for the first time in three years, according to a recent market analysis by JLL. Positive absorption in the region also hit 5.5 million square feet last quarter, per JLL.

Cabot Properties has also been busy in the Inland Empire lately, having acquired a 236,129-square-foot, Class A industrial property in Fontana in the summer for $76.8 million. 

Nick Trombola can be reached at ntrombola@commercialobserver.com.