In the largest of the two deals, fast-growing transportation and logistics firm Griley Freightlines signed a 10-year lease for 103,185 sf of space at Watson Industrial Center South. The pact is valued at $6 million.

The 350-acre, master-planned industrial park is bounded by Wilmington Avenue, Sepulveda and Avalon boulevards and 223rd Street. It is owned by privately held Watson Land Co., the county's largest developer of industrial space.

Griley Freightlines will use the building as its new headquarters. Don Smith of Lee & Associates represented Griley in the transaction, while Watson was represented in-house by Kirk Johnson and Lance Ryan.

In the second transaction, a 28,800-sf industrial building in neighboring Ranch Dominguez was sold for $1.5 million to the private Ostermeir Family Trust of Gardena. The building stands at 17803 Santa Fe Ave.

Zoltan Sztan of Grubb & Ellis' South Bay office represented the buyer in the transaction. Tom O'Loughlin of Lee & Associates represented the seller, Rancho Dominguez-based DEJ Limited Partnership.

Sales and leasing activity has dropped sharply across LA County, as the slowing economy has discouraged many businesses from expanding and forced many institutional investors to the sidelines. But the South Bay market has fared better than most, in part because its diversified tenant base has made the area less susceptible to the real estate problems caused by the dot-com bust.