Tolead Logistics inks $20M warehouse lease in Vernon

A logistics company has signed a 10-year lease worth around $20 million for a warehouse in Vernon, as the Los Angeles-area industrial market continues to sizzle.

China-based Tolead Logistics is leasing the 155,000-square-foot property at 5383 Alcoa Avenue from the Gajaini family, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal.

The Gajaini’s garment business currently occupies the property; it will move out equipment before Tolead moves in at the beginning of October, according to the report.

The L.A. area industrial market remained strong through the pandemic and continues to be one of the tightest markets in the country.

Demand for logistics space has been a key driver of industrial activity this year. Around 9.8 million square feet of space was leased in the second quarter and submarkets near the ports of L.A. and Long Beach accounted for 69 percent of all leases signed from April through June.

The pandemic temporarily disrupted the flow of goods through the ports, but movement has picked up again — container flow through the Port of L.A. in May set an all-time monthly record for western hemisphere ports.

The industrial vacancy rate across L.A. County fell to 1.9 percent and average asking rents reached $1.02 per square foot. Only the nearby Inland Empire and New York City had lower vacancy at 1.7 percent, according to a recent JLL report.

[LABJ] — Dennis Lynch