Duke Realty Preleases 1.2M SF in Inland Empire

Duke Realty has pre-leased its speculative 1.2 million-square-foot industrial facility in the Inland Empire East to a single tenant. Lecangs, a subsidiary of Loctek Ergonomic Technology Corporation, a pure-play logistics property REIT, has signed a long-term lease at the property.

Lecangs currently has 1.6 million square feet of logistics space in the US, and this deal will nearly double its current footprint. Located at 728 West Rider Street in Perris, California, the property is top-of-the-line with 40 feet of clear height, 241 dock doors, 344 trailer parking spaces and 442 auto spaces. The facility is being built to LEED certification standards. The property is scheduled to deliver at the end of the year.

The long-term lease agreement is the latest example of the strong demand for warehouse and distribution space in Southern California. Duke has leased 11 or its last 12 speculative industrial properties in Southern California. In October, the company fully leased a 199,472-square-foot speculative industrial development in Ontario. Yaheetech signed a long-term lease agreement for the property, which is slated to deliver in early 2022. Like this deal, that lease also represented an expansion of the West Coast distribution network for Yaheetech, a global e-commerce wholesaler.

Construction can’t seem to keep up with the insatiable demand. Last year, the Inland Empire recorded an impressive 26 million square feet of absorption in 2020 with activity surging at the end of the year. The activity was a new record for the region, which is already considered the top industrial market in the country. Ecommerce is the driving force behind the trend, but the report also noted that brick-and-mortar warehouse support has expanded to supply popular essential goods to local stores, amplifying the already strong demand.

Duke is one of many active developers in the market hurrying to create more supply. Among the ongoing projects, Artemis Real Estate Partners and Shopoff Realty Investments broke ground on a 1.8 million-square-foot industrial property in the 1-10 Corridor area of the Inland Empire East in June. Known as the I-10 Logistics Center, the property will include an 811,000-square-foot warehouse building and a 1 million square foot building. Both buildings will feature 40-foot clear-height ceilings, 300 dock-high roll-up doors and 519 trailer parking spots, and the property is being designed to LEED Silver certification.