1130 230th St.

CARSON, CA-Two logistics firms are helping to keep the industrial market moving in the South Bay with the signing of two leases totaling more than 300,000 square feet. Los Angeles-based Custom Goods Inc. signed a deal for nearly 178,000 square feet at Watson Industrial Center in Carson, and Long Beach-based UTi Worldwide has taken more than 123,000 square feet at Harbor Gateway Commerce Center in nearby Torrance.

In the Custom Goods lease, the Klabin Co. reports that the logistics and transportation company subleased 177,519 square feet at 1130 230th St. and has already occupied the space. Harvey Beesen and Luke Staubitz, principals in the Los Angeles office of Klabin/Corfac, co-represented Custom Goods along with David Bales, a principal of Lee & Associates in Los Angeles. Jay Jasaitis of Larem represented Price Transfer, the sublessor. Consideration for the 64-month sublease was in excess of $5 million.

1640 W. 190th St.

In the UTi lease, Eric Knirk of Fremont Associates reports that UTi signed a six-year lease for 123,345 square feet at 1640 W. 190th St., at the corner of Western Avenue and 190th Street, that was vacated by Hitachi Transportation in July and was then remodeled. UTi is scheduled to relocate from Carson in January to the new location, which will house its Los Angeles International Airport and World Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach logistics and freight operations.

The UTi lease was valued at approximately $5.4 million. The landlord, Sunshine Distribution LP, was represented by Fremont Associates' Knirk and Mike Krotz. UTi was represented by senior vice president/principal Craig Poropat in the South Bay office of Lee & Associates in Gardena, along with Trey Fricke, president of Lee's Dallas office, and transaction manager Jeremy Steenerson in the Dallas office.

The UTi building, which features 22,000 square feet of two-story offices, is part of the 1.5-million-square-foot Harbor Gateway Commerce Center, which was built in two phases in 1998 and 2000 on the 68-acre site formerly occupied by International Light Metals, a division of Lockheed. Fremont Development Co. developed the site in a joint venture with Rreef and CoPera. Knirk points out that Fremont designed the project with users like UTi in mind. Long Beach-based UTi is a worldwide supply chain solutions company specializing in contract logistics and international ground, air and ocean transportation. The company operates 175 logistics centers with over 23.5 million square feet in 23 countries.

Knirk notes that Fremont Associates will be marketing two class A logistics properties in the Harbor Gateway Commerce Center in Torrance (369,750 SF) and the Carmenita Distribution Center in Santa Fe Springs (268,536 SF) in 2011. He cites a "very constrained supply of large class A buildings" in the L.A. and Orange County marketplaces.