Empire Gateway Spec Project Fully Leased

CHINO, CA—Signifying increased demand for new warehousing and distribution space in Southern California, the 2.1 million-square-foot Empire Gateway project in Chino has been fully leased shortly after being completed, Colliers International says.

Solo Cup Company, one of the world's leading manufacturers and distributors of paper and plastic single-use consumer products, has leased the project's only remaining vacant space—a 522,000-square-foot state-of-the-art building where it will warehouse and distribute its products. Solo signed a five-year lease term with a total consideration of $14.5 million.

A team from Collier's Ontario office comprised of senior executive vice presidents Tom Taylor and Steven Bellitti, plus vice president Josh Hayes and associate Summer Coulter, acted as the development's exclusive leasing agents. Newmark Grubb Knight Frank brokers Rob Hughes, Mark Kegans and Ron Washle represented Solo in this latest transaction.

At the time ground was broken on the much-anticipated 2.1 million-square-foot, multi-building project in August of 2013, it ranked as the largest speculative industrial development in the western United States, according to Colliers officials, who predicted correctly at the time that user demand for class A big box spec development would be high. Tenants soon began committing to space and now include, in addition to Solo, Cargo Solutions, Euro-Pro and an international tire company.

Developed for Invesco Real Estate by Sares Regis Group (SRG) of Irvine, the four-building development was delivered to the market in second quarter of 2014 and is comprised of four completed LEED-certified buildings in a marketplace where demand has been so strong that vacancy rates among class A buildings in this category of commercial real estate has been hovering near 3 percent, according to officials of both SRG and Colliers.

"Despite the strong demand, the development still had to be marketed and marketed professionally," said Invesco's Tom Hurst. "Colliers brought its A-team to this development, befitting of the largest spec development to occur in the last several years in the Inland Empire. Their commitment to this development was total and professional. The proof is in the end result -- they filled the development with quality tenants exceeding all expectations. To say we were pleased would be an understatement." 

Located on the site of one of Chino's former dairy farms, the development's 125-acre parcel was one of the last of its size zoned for so-called big box development, which when compared to the balance of the Inland Empire offers much closer accessibility to major centers of population and commerce, including the all-important ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

“This will be one of last large scale class A big box developments any of us will see this close to metropolitan Los Angeles,” said Colliers' Taylor. “There just isn't any more land available for a development of this scale and scope until you get out to the easterly reaches of the Inland Empire where developers are now turning their attention.”

Bellitti, a veteran broker who has witnessed the region's transformation from a semi-rural collection of dairy farms to the sparkling hub of commerce it is today, said conditions had never been better for developers who can find land on which to build.

“But that's the key to the riddle,” he said. “There is just no where for developers to go now except further out into the Inland Empire or, for a lucky few, there may be a rare opportunity to acquire an urban infill sites. But the demand for industrial property right now continues to far outweigh the supply.”

The development's central location to major interstate highways and freeways (Interstates 10 and the 91, 71, and 60 freeways) makes it one of the most desirable locations for tenants in need of either local or regional distribution and warehousing uses. All of the tenants now occupying the center have major warehousing and distribution needs.

Solo's new building includes 63 dock-high loading doors and two ground-level doors with parking available for 134 truck-trailers at any given time. The two largest buildings total 779,052 square feet and 658,756 square feet, respectively, and both feature cross-dock loading. The first building includes 134 dock-high loading doors, four ground-level loading doors, and spaces for 200 semi-truck trailers. The second building feature 116 dock-high loading doors, four ground-level loading doors, and spaces for 159 trailers.