Rexford adds to massive industrial portfolio with $22M purchase

Rexford Industrial Realty has purchased an industrial park in the San Fernando Valley, adding to its large Los Angeles-area holdings.

Rexford paid $22 million for the 6.5-acre property at 12744 San Fernando Road in Sylmar, according to Commercial Observer. The 140,837-square-foot property is about half leased.

The sellers were Oaktree Capital Management and Intertex Companies.

Newmark, which arranged the deal for Rexford, said the property was well-suited for redevelopment or as a last-mile distribution center. Those properties have been in high demand, especially during the pandemic as consumers have increased their e-commerce purchases.

That has helped push down industrial property vacancy and push up rents and sale prices. Following a rough spring immediately after the coronavirus took hold in the U.S., the industrial market has been strong. The 11.2 million square feet of new industrial leases signed in L.A. in the third quarter nearly made up for the slowdown in the second quarter.

Rexford had about $1 billion in Southern California industrial acquisitions in 2019.

Oaktree has been busy since the beginning of the pandemic, scooping up real estate-backed securities that could be undervalued. Blackstone Group and Starwood Capital are among the firms that have done the same.

In July, Oaktree and Ascendant Capital Partners invested $200 million in Chicago-based Watermark Lodging Trust in exchange for a 12 percent annual dividend. [CO] ­— Dennis Lynch