(To read more on the industrial market, click here.)

LONG BEACH, CA-It is not a secret that developable land is difficult to come by in Southern California. Entrepreneurial-minded developers are adapting to the land shortage as they seek to redevelop industrial infill sites for their next project, according to an industry insider attending the RealShare Industrial West Conference being held yesterday and today at the Marriott Long Beach Hotel.In a roundtable session held last night titled "Higher and Better Uses-Industrial Redevelopment," Marty Stradtman, a VP in the Newport Beach office of Grubb & Ellis, told Globest.com that 26 projects in the Irvine Business Complex are currently in the pipeline, converting property from industrial or "industrial-type use" to residential.Stradtman said while industrial is not going away in Southern California areas such as Orange County, "it's becoming more refined. You're seeing more owner-users."He said that Los Angeles is losing industrial players to the Inland Empire, but owner-users are filling the local industrial needs. "We're seeing a major play on owner-users in the 5,000-sf to 10,000-sf range," Stradtman said.While many existing, outdated facilities in Southern California are being repositioned to the higher revenue producing stream of residential property, industrial projects are gaining ground as straight distribution centers. "More than 40% of the country's imports, particularly from Asia, come through the Port of Los Angeles," Stradtman said.Distribution and logistics will be among the major topics today at the Long Beach Marriott as more than 175 industrial leaders are in town for the first RealShare Industrial West Conference. Industrial leaders from California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Illinois, Massachusetts and New York are here as speakers and participants.Dr. John Husing of Economics & Politics Inc. kicks off the proceedings with the keynote address. Husing will discuss how the Southern California economy and demographics impact industrial real estate, supply chains and logistics. After a town hall meeting titled "The State of Industrial Real Estate," being moderated by Jim Dieter, executive managing director of CB Richard Ellis, the conference will feature a session on "The Evolution of Logistics & the Supply Chain," moderated by Peter Quinn, senior managing director of Cushman & Wakefield.The conference will conclude with a boat tour of the Port of Los Angeles. While chugging along through the water, attendees will listen to the panel discussion "Planes and Trains, Ports and Trucks: How Do We Get from Here to There?" moderated by Stacey Jones, director of engineering development, Port of L.A.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.

Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.