Target will add 1.2 million square feet to its Inland Empire distribution footprint, after signing a deal to take one of CT Realty’s buildings under construction, The Real Deal has learned.
The retailer signed a 15-year lease to occupy a roughly 1.2 million-square–foot warehouse at 6186 Crusher Drive in Jurupa Valley, according to lease documents filed with Riverside County last month. Financial terms of the lease were not disclosed and neither Target nor CT Realty responded to requests for comment.
Target also has options to extend the lease by an additional 15 years.
CT Realty partnered with Prudential Global Investment Management to build a 3.6-million-square-foot, five-building industrial park at the site, according to CBRE marketing materials for the property. Target will occupy one of the buildings.
The only 1.2 million-square-foot building on site will have 217 dock doors and parking for more than 615 cars and 530 trailers.
With its new lease, Target is set to occupy more than 3 million square feet in the Inland Empire. Earlier this year, the retailer signed a deal to take a 1.9 million-square-foot distribution center near the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, a property owned by Hillwood, the real estate development company started by one-time presidential candidate Ross Perot.
Target’s sales have shot up over the last two years, as its stores were allowed to remain open during the onset of the pandemic. Sales increased 20 percent to $92.1 billion in 2020, compared to $77.1 billion the year prior.
The firm’s sales have started to slow since then, given how inflation has affected consumer spending. In the second quarter, sales grew 2.6 percent compared to the first quarter.
Target’s new lease runs contrary to some of the pull back from other retailers, including Amazon, which said it had too much industrial space after spending billions over the last two years to double its fulfillment and distribution network across the country.
In contrast, Target is fixed on adding more space.
“We’re rapidly expanding the number of sortation centers operating around the country,” COO John Mulligan said on an earnings call in August.