"Lot of tenants have been exploring but not taking actions," says Frank Geraci, an executive vice president in the Ontario, CA office of CB Richard Ellis. "This is a statement that somebody's stepping up and making a commitment for this size square footage."

Geraci, who with CBRE colleagues Steve Sperber, John Isaacs and Walt Chenoweth represented the tenant in the transaction, says other tenants are definitely looking but generally have bee reluctant to take action. The year's other large deal was Watson Land Co.'s 517,346-square-foot lease to Kenco Logistics Services in Redlands, CA in February. Prior to that, Geraci tells GlobeSt.com, the only transactions were smaller warehouse deals. He says the completion of more than one million square feet in just two leases sends a signal of confidence that could provide the spark other companies need to break through their inertia.

In the most recent deal, IDS USA, a clothing distributor that is part of Hong Kong's IDS Group, signed for the entire 645,311-square-foot building at 11905 Landon Dr. The tenant will use the facility for consolidation and expansion of its Los Angeles regional operations. Tim O'Rourke, an executive vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle who represented AMB in the Galleano transaction along with JLL colleague Mike Fowler and Mike McCrary of Colliers International, says the deal demonstrates a positive trajectory for the market, though he acknowledges the Inland Empire will continue to face challenges in light of the ongoing economic downturn.