ONTARIO, CA—Sares-Regis Group has acquired 150 acres of prime commercial land adjacent to Interstate 10 here, and plans to develop premium LEED-rated class A industrial distribution buildings totaling 3 million square feet. In concert with the land purchase, Seres-Regis Group (SRG) pre-leased the largest of the seven buildings planned for the site to QVC for the giant video and e-commerce retailer's first West Coast distribution hub.
“This is the largest and last tract of developable land in the western end of the Inland Empire and located on the I-10 Freeway. QVC looked at several properties on the market, and we're pleased that our location was able to satisfy their logistic requirements,” said Larry Lukanish, senior vice president of SRG Commercial Development.
The property is part of the undeveloped 243-acre Meredith International Centre, which extends nearly a mile along the north side of I-10, opposite LA/Ontario International Airport between Archibald and Vineyard avenues.
SRG completed the land purchase with the Meredith family on July 1. As the land purchase was being completed, SRG and QVC executed a lease agreement for QVC's 1,050,000-square-foot building to be completed July 1, 2016. The building will include 30,000 square feet of office and employee cafeteria space. In its statement, a QVC spokesperson said the company “anticipates hiring approximately 1,000 team members in total by 2020 as the distribution center expands fulfillment to all product categories.”
“At QVC, distribution plays a significant role in enriching the customer service experience. For each and every product we ship, we look at it as an opportunity to build trust, loyalty and engagement with our customers,” said James Reid, vice president of distribution operations at QVC. “This new distribution center will enable us to efficiently and swiftly serve our customers throughout the Western United States.”
SRG's land purchase followed the Ontario City Council's unanimous approval in April of a new Specific Plan and Development Agreement. In addition to SRG's industrial project, there are entitlements for 1.1 million square feet of office and retail space and 800 apartment units on the 80 acres retained by the Meredith family. A family representative said that five acres have been sold for a planned Audi auto dealership and talks are under way with other interested buyers.
SRG's six remaining industrial buildings planned for its 150-acre site are for lease. They range from 130,000 square feet to 575,000 square feet with 32-foot and 36-foot clear heights. SRG's entire project will be completed by late next year. SRG has developed more than 21 million square feet of industrial space in the Inland Empire since 1994.
Chuck Noble, a principal broker of Lee & Associates who represented the Meredith family, said the Meredith property is the largest new entitlement in Ontario in 20 years. The Meredith interests were also represented by John Hatzis and Dave Hunsaker of Lee & Associates.
“This tract of land has been an important part of the city of Ontario's long-range plans and a family's legacy. For this reason, it required vision, a collaborative effort among the city, the landowner and the buyer and thousands of staff and consultant hours to produce these agreements,” Noble said.
SRG was represented in the land acquisition and QVC lease by Joe McKay also of Lee & Associates. QVC was represented by CBRE brokers Erik Wanland in Ontario and Mike Barker in Wayne, PA.
As a leading western United States real estate developer and property manager,SRG has developed or acquired approximately 45 million square feet of industrial properties with an approximate value of $3.5 billion since 1994 primarily in Southern California.
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David Phillips
David Phillips is a Chicago-based freelance writer and consultant with more than 20 years experience in business and community news. He also has extensive reporting experience in the food manufacturing industry for national trade publications.
