Fortress flips Inland Empire industrial 50% higher in six months

Fortress Investment Group has flipped an industrial property it bought six months ago for $10 million more than the firm paid.

The New York-based investment firm sold a 50,000-square-foot building in Moreno Valley for $29.3 million, according to property records filed with Riverside County. Fortress bought the building in December for $19.5 million.

Bridge Investment Group, an investment manager based in Salt Lake City, bought the property at 22360 Goldencrest Drive, records show. Bridge did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The warehouse was one of many properties Fortress acquired in the Inland Empire from June of last year through February. The firm spent at least $259 million on small industrial sites in L.A., Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties during this period, using an initial $300 million loan from Deutsche Bank.

Fortress had bought the property for about $440 per square foot and sold it for $660 a foot, showing just how quickly industrial prices have escalated.

Though the building is only 44,500 square feet, it sits on about 4.5 acres of land, most of which is used for parking and outdoor storage. It’s currently occupied by National Tube Supply, which builds mechanical tubing products for defense, energy and equipment companies.

In March, Bridge Investment bought another roughly 5-acre property in Perris with similar features — a large trucking court and a small industrial building onsite — for $8.1 million, records show.

It’s unclear whether Bridge will redevelop the properties or keep them as is.

In L.A., the company also owns a 54,000-square-foot property at 10623 Fulton Wells Avenue in Santa Fe Springs, which it purchased in March for $24.2 million, as well as a property in Carson.