$85M Industrial Sale Proves Region’s Potential

MIRA LOMA, CA-The $85.25 million sale of a 1.6-million-square-foot warehouse here proves the potential that the developer saw in the region, the seller says. Irvine-based Pacific Newport Properties Inc. sold the property, Mira Loma Distribution Center, to an undisclosed institutional buyer in one of Southern California’s largest industrial sales year-to-date.

The class A warehouse and distribution facility is situated on 83 acres and represents the final phase of the original 131 acres developed by Pacific Newport, one of the first developers to recognize the potential of the I-15 Corridor south of the 60 freeway for this type of product.

William R. Patton, founder and president of Pacific Newport, says that the sale “is significant to us in that it validates the potential we envisioned in this area of the Inland Empire region.” In addition, the sale “will allow us to expand our ongoing development and acquisition strategies,” Patton says.

According to Pacific Newport, Mira Loma Distribution Center is Southern California’s largest industrial sale so far this year, surpassing the next largest transaction of $42 million involving the Federated Department Stores building in Los Angeles. 

Cushman & Wakefield director Kent Hindes observes that the sale “shows the demand by institutional investors for quality, well-positioned commercial real estate” in Southern California. He points out that the project has healthy occupancy with a strong roster of credit tenants and that its close proximity to the I-15, I-10 and 60 freeways is a key attractor for distribution companies.

Mira Loma Distribution Center comprises three warehouse distribution buildings located at 12510 Micro Dr., 12455 Harvest Dr., and 4650 Hamner Ave., fronting the Interstate 15 Freeway just south of the Pomona 60 Freeway at the Cantu-Galleano Ranch Road interchange. A 755,100-square-foot facility on 32 acres was developed as the first phase of Mira Loma Distribution Center in 1999 by Pacific Newport Properties for a Wal-Mart Distribution Center. 

In late 2000, Pacific Newport developed an 802,645-square-foot distribution center on 37 acres for Ingram Micro, which continues to occupy the leased facility located at 12510 Micro Dr. Other tenants in the Mira Loma complex have included Ferguson Enterprises, which continues to occupy a 565,598-square-foot facility on 28 acres of the project, and Smuckers, which originally occupied 239,121 square feet on 13 acres at 4560 Hamner Ave.

Pacific Newport Properties will continue managing the center for the new owner. “We look forward to continuing our relationships with the Mira Loma Distribution Center tenants and the new owner,” said Jon Patton, vice president of Pacific Newport Properties.

In the transaction, Pacific Newport Properties was represented by Hindes, director of Cushman & Wakefield’s Ontario office, along with Jeff Chiate and Jeff Cole, executive directors with the company’s Irvine office. The buyer represented itself.