RIVERSIDE, CA-Cole Real Estate Investments of Phoenix has acquired a newly built, fully leased freezer warehouse totaling 496,000 rentable square feet from USAA Real Estate for $91.5 million, according to Robert Micera, chief investment officer for office and industrial at Cole. The LEED-certified property, at 1001 Columbia Ave., is fully leased to Wal-Mart, which has approximately 15 years remaining on its NNN lease, with additional renewal options.

Micera, in an announcement regarding the acquisition, commented: “Its strategic location within the Inland Empire and mission-critical focus makes this facility an excellent addition to our growing portfolio of ‘necessity corporate’ office and industrial assets.” He also cited the “outstanding creditworthiness of the tenant, long-term lease, newness of the facility and demand for cold storage warehouses” as factors that fit the Cole strategy.

Vice chairman Darla Longo of CB Richard Ellis, who led a CBRE team that brokered the sale, noted that cold storage warehouse vacancy in Southern California is estimated at less than 2%. “Due to the significant cost of cold storage construction, there is virtually no speculative market,” Longo said. “The food industry is one of the most rapidly growing industries in the economy, yet the vast majority of the cold storage warehouse supply is older, functionally obsolete, mechanically inefficient and in need of repair and replacement.”