Duke Realty shells out nearly $100M for empty land in the Inland Empire

Duke Realty, a soon-to-be subsidiary of Prologis, has shelled out nearly $100 million for several plots of empty land in the Inland Empire, The Real Deal has learned.

The industrial REIT bought about 30 acres in the Riverside County city of Perris for $97 million, or about $3.2 million per acre, according to public records filed last week. Duke did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An entity called Ramona Development, managed by Timothy Calandra, sold all 13 parcels of land, located between Brennan and Webster Avenue on the Ramona Expressway. Calandra is also listed as a principal of Starcrest Products of California, a manufacturer that occupies a warehouse nearby.

The city of Perris has already approved a plan to redevelop more than 3,500 acres of residential and vacant land into light industrial and commercial properties, according to city documents. Duke Realty has not filed any public plans to build on the newly acquired sites.

It’s not Duke’s first venture into Perris, known historically as a railway city. In December, the company pre-leased a 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse at 728 West Rider Street, which it finished building earlier this year, to third-party logistics firm Lecangs.

Duke isn’t the only developer moving into Perris. First Industrial Realty Trust recently finished construction of a 303,000-square-foot warehouse in the city, also located within the perimeters of the city’s industrial plan at East Rider Street and Wilson Avenue. The Chicago-based firm said that property has already been leased.

Any building Duke builds on its new land will not likely be finished before Prologis closes its proposed $26 billion acquisition of Duke, which is expected to happen in the fourth quarter. With the deal, Prologis will assume control of more than 15 million additional square feet of industrial space in Southern California, plus vacant land for development.