The 3.84-acre property is located in the McInnes Ranch Business Park in Oxnard, where the industrial vacancy rate is 2.7%. “[The vacancy rate] was one of the reasons that the buyer purchased this property,” explains Conlee. The land is not yet entitled, but the buyer plans to go through the process to get approval to build a 52,500 square-foot distribution building with 30-foot clear height and dock-high loading.

Whether purchased by a developer or an owner-user, the reality is this is a rare transaction in the Oxnard market, where, like Los Angeles, there is limited land for new development. “There hasn't been much land sold in the market,” says Conlee. As a result, the buyer is in a good position to capitalize on this site—even if the process isn't pretty.

LOS ANGELES—There is certainly a dearth of industrial supply throughout the Los Angeles area and up into Ventura County, but some developers might be foregoing development opportunities because of the long, arduous and expensive entitlement process. At least, that is the case in Oxnard, where the majority of the land site sales have gone to owner-users, not developers looking to build spec.

“Land is in demand for development, but it is not as in demand as you would think because it is a challenge to develop with all of the requirements and city bureaucracy,” Mitch Conlee, EVP of DAUM Commercial, tells GlobeSt.com. “There are a lot of fees to develop land sites today, and as a result, investors aren't looking for land sites as much as they are looking for existing buildings. However, it really depends on the buyer. Most of the land sales that have occurred in Oxnard have been to users, not developers. Companies are buying land to build for their own use, but developers aren't buying land for spec development because of the high costs to develop.”

Conlee recently brokered the sale of a land site in Oxnard that could potentially accommodate a 52,000-square-foot industrial distribution property. Conlee, who represented both the buyer, E&E Trust, and the private seller, did secure a developer for the deal, but quietly shopped the opportunity to buyers in an off-market transaction. “The land wasn't on the market for sale; this was an off-marketed sale. I didn't talk to a lot of buyers about the property, and instead took it to a select few,” he says. “My buyer looked at this as an opportunity to develop the building that was proposed for the site, which is a 52,000 square foot property. He is in the business of developing buildings, and they liked the location and the size of the property. They also know that there is demand for a distribution building in this size range.”

The 3.84-acre property is located in the McInnes Ranch Business Park in Oxnard, where the industrial vacancy rate is 2.7%. “[The vacancy rate] was one of the reasons that the buyer purchased this property,” explains Conlee. The land is not yet entitled, but the buyer plans to go through the process to get approval to build a 52,500 square-foot distribution building with 30-foot clear height and dock-high loading.

Whether purchased by a developer or an owner-user, the reality is this is a rare transaction in the Oxnard market, where, like Los Angeles, there is limited land for new development. “There hasn't been much land sold in the market,” says Conlee. As a result, the buyer is in a good position to capitalize on this site—even if the process isn't pretty.