Real estate sources say the Cheli Distribution Center in the city of Bell reportedly brought $130 million or more while the three-building Kellwood Distribution Center in the City of Industry sold for $26.2 million.

Barbara Emmons of CB Richard Ellis Inc. in Glendale and Darla Longo in CBRE's Ontario office were the listing agents for both properties, with the buyers in both cases representing themselves. John Privett and Jeff Stephens, both in CBRE's Commerce office, also were listing agents on the Cheli portfolio, which includes 15 class A industrial buildings in a business park setting.

Emmons tells GlobeSt.com that the two large deals being finalized so close together is simply further evidence that "there is a lot of demand for industrial real estate and a lot of money in the market to buy it." She says owners are cashing in on investors' willingness to pay top dollar for properties.

The buyer of the Cheli Distribution Center was L&B Realty Advisors Inc. of Dallas, which acquired the portfolio from Chicago-based Lincoln Advisory Group, the investment advisory affiliate of Dallas-headquartered Lincoln Property Co. The Cheli site is located in the heart of the Commerce/Vernon/Bell submarket, directly off the Long Beach (I-710) Freeway. The project's 15 buildings comprise 80 units, ranging from 4,224 sf to 175,217 sf. The project was over 91% leased to such tenants as Target Stores, Dearden's, Iron Mountain, Pierce Leahy and Werner Co.

The buyer of the Kellwood Distribution Center was Layton-Belling & Associates of Newport Beach, which took the deed from a Boston-based institutional investor. The three buildings sit on about 28.4 acres at 13039-13087 E. Temple Ave., off the 605 Freeway. The project is 100% leased to Kellwood, a publicly traded marketer of apparel, consumer soft goods and recreational camping products. Specializing in branded as well as private label products, Kellwood markets through a number of distribution channels, ranging from discounters to department stores.

The Kellwood center consists of a 407,040-sf building with mezzanine office space, constructed in 1981, along with designs 33,075 sf and 31,226 sf, developed in 2000 by the seller, which had owned the property for about five years. Kellwood has been in the facilities since 1998, when it consolidated operations from several Los Angeles area locations into the single distribution center.