Real Estate Development Associates aims to build a 2.9 million-square-foot warehouse hub in the Inland Empire.
The Newport Beach-based developer plans to construct the distribution warehouse campus at Euclid and Merrill avenues in Ontario, the Commercial Observer reported, citing Vizzda.
The firm bought the 130-acre property for $122 million at an unknown date.
Plans call for building an initial phase of what would be called the South Ontario Logistics Center, near Chino Airport. When completed, it would contain 2.9 million square feet of distribution warehouses.
The vacancy rate for industrial buildings in the Inland Empire remains near historic lows, according to a third-quarter report by CBRE.
Warehouses with more than 500,000 square feet have “no vacancy” signs posted across the region, with asking rents 60-percent higher year-over-year.
Ontario has by far the most inventory in the Inland Empire, with more than 112.5 million square feet of warehouse and logistics space.
In June, a joint venture between Real Estate Development Associates and New York-based Clarion Partners obtained $210 million in construction financing for a 1.7 million-square-foot industrial project in Ontario.
In April, Amazon.com inked a 4.1 million-square-foot warehouse lease from Prologis, while Home Depot leased 1.1 million square feet from the Clarion-REDA partnership, in a hub that includes Walmart, FedEx and Kenco.
Not all Ontario residents are on board with the influx of warehouses and logistics centers. In March, 1,000 residents signed a petition against a city plan to rezone almost 220 acres of former agricultural land to allow for industrial development.
They called for a moratorium on warehouses blamed for traffic, diesel truck pollution and noise.
Dairy farms are specifically targeted by developers and Inland Empire cities for redevelopment, as labor has shifted away from agriculture in the Inland Empire. The new city of Eastvale has proposed a new downtown and civic center, with up to 2,500 homes across 153 acres of former farms.
— Dana Bartholomew
Read more
Commercial
Los Angeles
Home Depot signs 1.1M sf lease for distribution hub
Commercial
Los Angeles
Critics want moratorium on warehouses in key Inland Empire city