$10M Gets Heilig-Meyers' Shuttered Warehouse

Chuck Belden of C&W says the LA-based buyer bought the empty warehouse from an East Coast lending institution. The building has been vacant for two years since the bankruptcy of Richmond, VA-based Heilig-Meyers.

Belden and Kent Hindes of Cushman & Wakefield's Ontario office represented the seller. John McMillan of C&W's Downtown Los Angeles office represented Hager Pacific.

The five-year-old building, which sits along the Interstate 15 Freeway at 10200 Amargosa Rd., includes 43,000 sf of showroom retail space. The single-story facility also boasts some of the highest clear heights available, up to 46 feet.

Having absorbed approximately 15 million sf to 20 million sf of industrial space per year for the past 15 years, the Inland Empire is running out of room, Belden says. As a result, users and investors are looking east to Riverside County or north to the Victorville Valley and other areas outside of the region's traditional industrial markets.

According to C&W statistics, the 265-million-sf Inland Empire industrial market--historically defined as Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Fontana, Chino and Mira Loma--is close to saturation with only 1,800 acres available for new construction. Belden notes that Mira Loma recently has denied several major industrial projects, forcing developers and businesses to look elsewhere.

In addition to the former Heilig-Meyers building there is 1.2 million sf of large industrial space in the Victorville Valley, all of which is 100% leased. Hager Pacific Partner Rob Neal says his company is already receiving quite a bit of interest from prospective tenants now that the Heilig-Meyers building is out of bankruptcy and on the market.

Hager Pacific Properties is one of the largest privately owned real estate investment firms in Southern California, with a portfolio of more than 3,000 apartment units and 6 million sf of commercial, retail and industrial properties.