Alere Property Group Expands Industrial Portfolio With Major Inland Empire Buy

Alere Property Group has acquired Freeway Business Center, a 709,000-square-foot industrial facility in Riverside. The new construction property was completed in 2021, and it is fully leased to UNIS, a third-party logistics company, through August 2028. With this purchase, Alere has Inland Empire industrial holdings of more than 20 million square feet. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Located on 30 acres at 2677 E. Alessandro Boulevard in Riverside, Freeway Business Center is a class-A warehouse facility with 36-foot clear height, 8,400 square feet of office space, ESFR and drive-around access. The property features all of the bells and whistles of a state-of-the-art warehouse, including 109 dock high doors on two sides of the building, a large 300-foot secure concrete truck court and two truck queuing lanes, which the Alere notes is a valuable feature for high-volume users.

The property is also ideally located. Riverside is the epicenter of the Inland Empire, and this particular property is positioned with easy access to both the I-215 and I-60 Freeways. Amazon, UPS, Home Depot, Proctor & Gamble, Ross Stores, Lowe’s all have facilities in the area.

Demand for industrial space in this market in unparalleled. In the last two years, the market continued to break absorption and leasing records. A report from JLL shows the market recorded an impressive 26 million square feet of absorption in 2020 with activity surging at the end of the year. By mid-2021, the market was recording 7.1% rent growth—highest in the nation—with vacancies at a low 2%.

The industrial boom is driving tremendous economic growth and attracting new residents. As a result, the Riverside-San Bernardino apartment market has the lowest vacancy rate in the US, according to research from Marcus & Millichap. From July 2020 to June 2021, the vacancy rate fell 200 basis points, falling below 2%. Plus, the firm forecasts that the vacancy rate will fall another 30 basis points this year. The strong vacancy rate supports double-digit rent growth. Already, the market has the second fastest rent gain nationally, and the report anticipates rents will increase 11.2 % by the end of the year.

And, the major industrial deals haven’t slowed, with industrial developments signing lease deals before delivery. In November, for example, GlobeSt.com reported that an unnamed Fortune 500 industrial supplier signed a long-term lease to occupy 100% of the Ramona Commerce Center, a 430,152-square-foot industrial distribution facility in nearby Perris, California. IDI Logistics is the developer behind the project, which is set for delivery property this month.