Torani pre-leases Prologis-built warehouse in San Leandro

Torani will expand its presence in San Leandro by signing a pre-lease on a 200,000-square-foot warehouse under construction by Prologis, according to a press release from brokerage CBRE.

The new facility will add to the company’s current 330,000-square-foot San Leandro “Flavor Factory” less than a mile away, just south of the Oakland airport. Torani manufactures syrups to flavor coffee, cocktails and other beverages.

“This facility’s proximity to key transportation hubs is well-positioned to support business growth, especially as new product of this size is rare in the Oakland industrial market,” said CBRE’s Bob Ferraro, who represented Torani along with David Black. “The East Bay’s industrial market has been notoriously tight for its aging supply and power constraints, but we continue to see more tenants looking to make the flight to quality.” 

Prologis is building the new warehouse facility, which is scheduled for completion at the end of next year. John McManus of Cushman & Wakefield represented Prologis in the deal. He declined to comment and neither side would divulge deal terms like price per square foot or lease length.

Located at 1919 Williams Street, the warehouse has more than 200,000 square feet and will feature “numerous docks, trailer parking and high clear heights, which are desired amenities for the modern warehouse and manufacturing user,” according to CBRE’s press release. It is located in an industrial area near numerous auto body shops, as well as Drake’s and 21st Amendment breweries and Kaiser’s San Leandro Medical Center.

Torani was founded 99 years ago by Italian immigrants in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood. CFO Scott Triou said in a statement that the registered B Corporation was committed to expanding within the Bay Area. 

Given the lack of new industrial space in the East Bay, finding the under-construction property was “kismet,” he said. 

Torani, which claims to have created the world’s first flavored latte, will relocate its warehouse and distribution operations to the new facility when it is completed next year. That will allow it to expand its production lines at the larger Flavor Factory, where its operations have been based since it moved from South San Francisco in 2020.

“We are thrilled about all of the new flavors, new jobs and new opportunities it will let us create here in San Leandro,” Triou said.

More than 1 million square feet of industrial product was under construction in the Oakland market in the third quarter this year, with more than 800,000 square feet in new deliveries, according to CBRE. In 2022, the East Bay market saw far more industrial trades than anywhere else in Northern California, according to a Colliers report showing $2.76 billion in industrial sales, a 34 percent year-over-year increase. Second-place Sacramento had $880 million in industrial sales last year.