INLAND EMPIRE, CA-Global office-furniture company Steelcase, Inc. has signed a lease with industrial REIT Prologis for a 180,608-square-foot space at Crossroads Business Park, located at 740 No. Vintage Ave. in Ontario, CA. The facility, built in 1999, will serve as a new distribution center for the manufacturer.
Steelcase, a provider of workplace products, furnishings and services, is relocating a former distribution center in the City of Industry to the Ontario location as part of its ongoing strategy to further streamline the company’s Southern California distribution operations, according to Walt Chenoweth, EVP of Voit Real Estate Services’ office here. Chenoweth worked with Frank Geraci and Juan Guitierrez from this office to represent Steelcase in the transaction. Prologis was represented by Mike Wolfe and Joe McKay of Lee & Associates.
“We understood our client’s specialized needs, which included a facility which would reduce the company’s overhead, while providing over-standard dock high loading and a large yard for trailer parking,” says Chenoweth. “We advised Steelcase to relocate to the Inland Empire to reduce rental costs, and we successfully secured a facility with 50 dock doors and 85 parking spaces for trailers.”
Chenoweth tells GlobeSt.com that the lease spans three years and is valued at approximately $2.1 million. "The Inland Empire industrial market has demonstrated steady improvement over the past two years. Vacancy and availability continue to descend steadily, resulting in an overall tightening of the market, and lease rates have stabilized. In addition, new construction in the region has opened up new opportunities for the market to thrive."
The space was a rare find in the Inland Empire, according to Chenoweth, since the building provides roughly double the amount of trailer parking offered by other properties in the market. “By identifying this facility, our team helped Steelcase to further lower its operating costs, not only through the lower-cost lease, but also by eliminating the need to lease off-site parking.”
Chenoweth also tells GlobeSt.com that big-box industrial properties over 500,000 square feet in the Inland Empire market were fully leased up over a year ago, and demand for large product has continued to grow. "With little existing inventory available for lease in the market, the Inland Empire quickly became one of the few markets in the US with new industrial product under construction. As the market improves, investors continue to target the Inland Empire industrial market. This market is a good bet for a strong return."
The Voit team has worked with Steelcase successfully for more than a decade, according to Chenoweth. As GlobeSt.com previously reported, his team assisted the company in its move from Tustin to the City of Industry in 2002.
Also as GlobeSt.com previously reported, during first-quarter 2012 Prologis completed approximately $360 million in third-party land and building dispositions in the US and Mexico, of which approximately $250 million was the company’s share.
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
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 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.
Carrie Rossenfeld
Carrie Rossenfeld is a reporter for the San Diego and Orange County markets on GlobeSt.com and a contributor to Real Estate Forum. She was a trade-magazine and newsletter editor in New York City before moving to Southern California to become a freelance writer and editor for magazines, books and websites. Rossenfeld has written extensively on topics including commercial real estate, running a medical practice, intellectual-property licensing and giftware. She has edited books about profiting from real estate and has ghostwritten a book about starting a home-based business.
