EQT Exeter, the U.S. real estate arm of Stockholm-based investment firm EQT, is opening its wallet for industrial properties in the Inland Empire.
The firm bought a 179,000-square-foot warehouse at 24712 6th Street in San Bernardino for $49.5 million, according to property records filed with San Bernardino County. The deal came out to $279 per square foot.
StarPoint Properties sold the building and announced the sale last week, but declined to name the buyer. StarPoint, run by Paul Daneshrad, bought the nearly 10-acre site for $6.5 million, or about $663,000 per acre.
The site is located within an Opportunity Zone — a program set up by former President Donald Trump through the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017. By purchasing real estate in economically disadvantaged areas designed as opportunity zones, real estate investors qualify for tax breaks.
Many have taken advantage of opportunity zones, though few have already sold off their initial investments.
StarPoint is planning to roll the funds into other investments in Colorado and Arizona, Daneshrad said in a statement.
EQT Exeter has at least 14 properties across San Bernardino and Riverside counties, which together make up the Inland Empire.
In July, the firm closed a $4.9 billion fund to invest in industrial real estate, with backing from multiple pension funds, including the Public School Employees’ Retirement System of Pennsylvania, the Los Angeles City Employees’ Retirement System and the New York State Common Retirement Fund.