JV scores construction financing for 1.7M sf Ontario Ranch industrial complex

JPMorgan provides $210M, three-year loan to Clarion Partners, Real Estate Development Associates

Clarion Partners’ David Gilbert with Eucalyptus and Euclid Avenue in Ontario Ranch (Loopnet, Clarion Partners)
Clarion Partners’ David Gilbert with Eucalyptus and Euclid Avenue in Ontario Ranch (Loopnet, Clarion Partners)

Clarion Partners has scored cash to start construction on the first phase of its 1.7 million-square-foot industrial project in Ontario Ranch.

The firm, along with its Newport Beach-based partner Real Estate Development Associates, obtained $210 million in construction financing, according to JLL, which brokered the deal on behalf of Clarion.

JLL declined to name the lender, though records filed with San Bernardino County show it is JPMorgan Chase. The three-year loan will bear interest at a floating rate, with interest-only payments.

Clarion and REDA closed the deal last month, just a few weeks before the Federal Reserve further raised its benchmark interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point.

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Clarion bought the site — located at Euclid and Eucalyptus Avenue — in 2020 for $86.1 million, public records show. The 84-acre site used to be home to a number of dairy farms.

Once completed, the entire project will span seven buildings, 287 loading docks and 775 parking spots.

Home Depot has already pre-leased a 1.1 million-square-foot  building at the development — the project’s largest. That building will have 40-foot clear heights, 193 dook doors, as well as parking for 244 trailers and 382 cars.

Ontario has become a hub for new industrial development over the last few years. Nearby, at Merrill Avenue between South Grove and Carpenter Avenue, Prologis is building a five-story, 4.1 million-square-foot development — a warehouse already leased by Amazon. That property is set to open in 2024.