LA's Industrial Market Gets Even Tighter

In the largest transaction, a Houston-based transportation and logistics-services firm took 305,400 sf in LA's South Bay in a 10-year lease worth $22 million. In the second, a clothing manufacturer and retailer sewed up 123,445 sf in the Vernon area on the southeast edge of Downtown for 10 years in a lease valued at $7 million.

Vacancies in most of LA's industrial markets are in the low single digits, and little new construction is taking place because there's a shortage of buildable land. A recent report by Cushman & Wakefield says that of the 127.3 million sf of inventory in the area, under 5 million sf—-roughly 4%--is available.

In the South Bay deal, EGL Eagle Global Logistics LP of Texas will move its LA-area operations from Hawthorne into a 305,400-sf industrial building at 19600 Western Ave. The building is inside the Harbor Gateway Commerce Center, a 1.5-million-sf industrial park being developed by locally based Fremont Associates for real estate investment advisory giant RREEF.

EGL will relocate its 370-employee domestic airfreight operations toits new facility after its current lease at 12900 Simms Ave. in nearby Hawthorne expires next month. Bret Quinlan of Cushman & Wakefield's South Bay office and David Cook, C&W's senior director in the firm's Houston office, represented EGL. Fremont Associates' Eric Knirk represented the landlord.

In the second deal, Lucky Brand Dungarees signed a 10-year lease for 123,445 sf in Vernon. Lucky Brand is a manufacturer and retailer of clothing and accessories. Lucky Brand will soon relocate from a nearby complex into its new headquarters at 5233 Alcoa Ave. The agreement is valued at $7 million.

Bart Pucci, senior vice president with Grubb & Ellis' Downtown LosAngeles office, represented Lucky Brand. The landlord, privately held Xebec LLC of Commerce, represented itself.