Rockefeller Group has acquired 68 acres of industrial land in Perris, Calif. The company will begin construction of two premier distribution centers totaling 1.45 million square feet located approximately 70 miles east of the Ports of Long Beach/Los Angeles.
“The I-215 corridor has quickly become a target for e-commerce companies and other businesses who need to locate within one hour of the nation’s largest port complex and within one of its largest population centers,” said James V. Camp, Senior Vice President and Regional Development Officer for Rockefeller Group’s West Region. “Our prime logistics location provides same day delivery to more than 20 million consumers and is one of the few remaining sites in the area that can accommodate a one million square foot user with expansion requirements and/or excess trailer and employee parking.”
According to Marc Berg, Vice President, Regional Director, West Region, Inland Empire East saw 10 million square feet of net absorption during 2016 with a 6.5 percent vacancy rate at the end of the fourth quarter, reaching a level of maturity that will attract companies to the location.
“In the past five years, we’ve seen many of the major e-commerce companies flock to the I-215 corridor to take advantage of available industrial facilities near major freeways such as Interstates-215, 10, and 15 and State Route 60,” said Mr. Berg. “The need for speculative development is growing rapidly because of the demand by e-commerce companies who require ultra large facilities that accommodate regional consumer and business demand as well as access to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.”
“When a million square foot user comes into the market, they ask what you have and when is it available for occupancy,” added Mr. Camp.
Optimus Logistics Center is located within one of the most densely populated markets in the nation, with a population of more than 9.5 million residents residing within a 50-mile radius. The site is also strategically located within eight hours of customers in Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.
The logistics center will offer two buildings, one of approximately 1 million square feet – which will be one of the largest distribution buildings along the corridor – and a second building, which will be approximately 400,000 square feet. Both buildings will be state-of-the-art, Class A distribution centers with 232 total truck bays, 449 trailer-parking stalls and 36-and 32-foot clear heights, which allow for more cubic storage.
Optimus Logistics Center marks Rockefeller Group’s second planned industrial project in the Inland Empire in the past nine months. In June 2016, Rockefeller Group acquired a 19-acre site located at 1333 South Tippecanoe Ave. in San Bernardino, Calif. and plans to develop two industrial distribution buildings totaling approximately 426,000 square feet.
“The Inland Empire remains a primary focus for Rockefeller Group’s West region,” said Mr. Camp. “We continue to target additional land and existing facilities in the area and expect to be one of the most active developers in Southern California and the Western United States.”
Rockefeller Group recently completed a similar logistics center totaling approximately 1.2 million square feet of speculative industrial development in Cranbury, N.J. At time of completion, the buildings were fully leased to a major e-commerce retailer. The company is actively developing industrial properties throughout the United States having recently completed more than 2 million square of industrial projects for companies such as Gerber Childrenswear, Goya Foods and other leading logistics and e-commerce companies. The company also has an industrial pipeline of more than 12 million square feet in strategic locations throughout the U.S. in locations that provide access from port markets and inland land distribution hubs to the nation’s major population centers.
Rockefeller Group was represented by Michael McCrary, Peter McWilliams and Nicole Welch of JLL in the purchase of the site. The seller was Optimus Building Corporation and was represented by the same brokers.
