GLP Capital Partners Buys California Warehouse Complex for $324M

GLP Capital Partners is adding to its US portfolio with the record-breaking purchase of a five-building warehouse project in southern California for $324 million.

Property consultancy Colliers, had announced Kearny Real Estate’s sale of the recently completed 730,000 square foot (67,819 square metre) project in California’s Inland Empire region on Monday, with Mingtiandi having since independently determined the price for the transaction and the identity of the buyer.

“Kearny built a best-in-class industrial development at the Inland Empire bullseye that is the I-15/CA-91 interchange,” said Michael Kendall, vice chair of Colliers’ Inland Empire office referring to the project’s proximity to major expressways. “The buyer, one of the most active investors in Southern California industrial real estate over the last 18 months, recognized the intrinsic value of this development and is thrilled to be adding it to their growing portfolio of Class A properties.”

The deal for the Corona Lakeside Logistics Center comes less than half of a year after GCP, the largest logistics investment manager in Asia, and the second-biggest globally after Prologis, had paid $90 million to acquire a warehouse in Perris, California – 23 miles (37 kilometres) east of its latest purchase – with both properties located in a region described by CBRE as the most sought-after logistics market in the US.

Ground-Lease Deal

The project’s location at Sherborn Street and Magnolia Avenue gives it immediate access to the 71, 91, and 15 freeways in a primary distribution hub east of southern California’s major population centres which is continuing to attract occupiers due to both its access to major cities and its proximity to ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach.

With five divisible buildings ranging from 70,586 to 205,235 square feet in size on a 38-acre (15.4-hectare) site, the project is one of the largest speculative developments in the Inland Empire, which spans Riverside and San Bernadino counties. GCP is paying the equivalent of $444 per square foot for the project which has 32 to 36-foot clearance heights and 109 dock doors for unloading trucks.

Kearny Real Estate broke ground on the project, which occupies a ground-lease site, in early 2021 and recently achieved substantial completion. Colliers highlighted the fixed-rate nature of the ground lease, with the consultancy having assisted Kearny in structuring the deal in 2019. The sale represents the largest ground-lease ownership transfer in the history of the Inland Empire and one of the largest ever in Southern California, Colliers said.

In addition to Kendall, Colliers industrial team members Richard Schwartz, Gian Bruno, Joey Reaume, and Kenny Patricia facilitated the deal on behalf of both parties. GCP representatives declined to comment on the deal.

“The Inland Empire remains the most in-demand big-box market because of multiple logistics drivers, its large population and robust labor force,” CBRE vice chair Dan De La Paz said in a report released last month. “Previously known as the low-cost alternative in Southern California, taking rents are now up over 60 percent, with minimal available land site inventory.”

Growing in the Inland Empire

The purchase of the Corona Lakeside Logistics Center comes just over four months after GCP had acquired its 354,810 square foot industrial facility in Perris, with TheRegistrySoCal reporting that the firm paid $90 million for the single-tenant property. Colliers had also brokered that Inland Empire transaction.

Average asking rents for logistics space in the Inland Empire climbed to $1.52 per square foot per month in the first quarter of this year, according to a report by Newmark, representing a more than 32 percent jump from a year earlier and a 4.6 percent increase from the preceding three months.

During the first quarter of 2023 occupiers signed 15 leases of over 100,000 square feet each in the region, with Shopify and Home Depot together taking up 2.2 million square feet in space. Vacancy in the region stood at 2.2 percent as of 31 March, up from 0.7 percent a year earlier.

GCP’s recent acquisitions in southern California show the industrial specialist continuing to rebuild its US holdings after a 2019 deal involved the company selling nearly all of its North American assets to Blackstone.

In that transaction four years ago, the company sold 179 million square feet of warehouse space from three of its funds to Blackstone for $18.7 billion, in a deal described at the time as the largest private real estate deal ever.

GCP now has $11 billion in assets under management in the US and $125 billion globally.