First Industrial Moves Inland

Ian De Vries of the Ontario office of CB Richard Ellis tells GlobeSt.com that First Industrial has tapped CBRE, which brokered the sale, as listing agent for the freestanding concrete tilt-up building. De Vries was part of a CBRE team including Kevin McKenna, Alan Buchanan and Grant Ross that represented both the buyer and the seller in the deal. De Vries, McKenna, Buchanan and Ross are the leasing agents as well.

Phil Bowman, locally based senior development officer for Chicago-based First Industrial, says the company expects to acquire other properties in the Inland Empire. He says the REIT's clients have "expressed a strong desire" for First Industrial to build a presence in the Inland Empire. The Eastridge building has already generated substantial interest from prospective tenants, he says.

Demand for industrial space in the Inland Empire remains strong, according to the latest quarterly market report from CB Richard Ellis, which cites the 4.1 million sf of net absorption for the quarter and calls the Inland Empire a "robust market." The market is adding space and yet the vacancy rate continues to decline, dipping by 16% to 1.6% in the second quarter.

First Industrial's other holdings in Southern California include light industrial, warehouse and R&D flex buildings in a number of submarkets. Among them are Los Angeles, Compton, Paramount, Santa Fe Springs, Rancho Dominguez, Hawthorne and the City of Industry.