Samsung Electronics Leases 1M sf in Fullerton

Samsung Electronics has signed a warehouse lease for 1 million square fee, marking the largest industrial lease in Orange County in three years.

The South Korean-based electronics giant leased the two largest buildings under construction at the Goodman Logistics Center Fullerton at 2289 and 2099 East Orangethorpe Avenue, the Orange County Business Journal reported.

The 487,036-square-foot and 538,226-square-foot buildings make up part of the former Kimberly-Clark manufacturing plant. Financial terms of the lease were not disclosed.

The 10-year lease is estimated to be worth $250 million, based on rents for high-end industrial properties in the region at $2 per square foot per month, according to the Business Journal.

WHen fully built out this year, the 65-acre campus will include four warehouses totaling 1.5 million square feet. Its developer, an Irvine unit of Australia-based Goodman Group, paid $202 million for the site in 2019.

The Goodman Logistics Center north of the 91 Freeway will soon be home to Samsung’s technology distribution division, according to the Business Journal.

In August, Phoenix-based Sprouts Farmers Market leased a 337,000-square-foot warehouse at the logistics center for undisclosed terms. The organic grocer became the first tenant at the industrial park and the deal was the largest lease of the year in OC until Samsung’s.

Cushman & Wakefield represented Samsung, while CBRE represented Goodman on the lease.

Samsung is expected to use the two warehouses to distribute hardware – from mobile phones, to memory chips, televisions and other home electronics – across Southern California.

It’s the first major local industrial base for Samsung, whose best-selling products include the Galaxy smartphone and The Frame television.
Units of the company occupy offices in the Irvine area, including a 7,500-square-foot office at the Von Karman Towers complex, according to the Business Journal.

The 1.03 million-square-foot deal is the largest known new lease for OC since 2019, when Unis leased 1.1 million square feet at the CenterPoint SoCal Logistics Center in Buena Park, once a distribution center for JC Penney.

In July, Rivian Automotive leased a 219,000-square-foot industrial building under construction in Tustin for undisclosed terms.

This month, GLP Capital Partners paid $156 million for a 406,000-square-foot industrial building in Fullerton partially leased by FedEx.

— Dana Bartholomew