JPMorgan Buys 459K SF Inland Empire Warehouse for $180M

JPMorgan made a big splash in the tightest US industrial market this week with its $180 million acquisition of a 459,000 square foot Inland Empire warehouse from Irvine, CA-based JW Mitchell.

The purchase price for the industrial property in the San Bernardino City of Ontario translates into $392 per square foot, according to San Bernardino property records.

The deal was the largest industrial trade of Q2 2022, which has seen warehouses flipping like pancakes in the red-hot SoCal market, which is filled to capacity with microscopic vacancy rates of 0.1%.

Prior to the deal with JW Mitchell, JPMorgan’s largest industrial property in the Inland Empire was a 490,000 square foot warehouse it bought in 1997 as Morgan Guaranty Trust and currently leases to AutoZone.

The warehouse purchased by the investment bank, located at 5555 Jurupa Street in Ontario, is occupied by two tenants, Liberty Hardware and Ceva Logistics.

Last month, JPMorgan announced it is providing a three-year, floating-rate, interest-only loan $210 million loan to finance the first phase of construction of the Ontario Ranch Business Park, a 160-acre, 3.2 million square foot industrial campus in one of the hottest industrial markets, SoCal’s Inland Empire.

A joint venture between Real Estate Development Associates (REDA) and a fund managed by Clarion Partners owns the development. JLL represented the borrowers in the transaction, GlobeSt.com reported.

The first phase of the Ontario Ranch project will encompass 1.7 million square feet on an 84-acre parcel that the joint venture purchased for $86 million in 2020. The site is part of an 8,000-acre mixed use development known as Ontario Ranch.

In April, Savills reported that Home Depot had signed a pre-lease to occupy a 1.1 million square foot Class A warehouse that will be built as part of the first phase of the Ontario Ranch development.

Located on the corner of Eucalyptus and Euclid avenues, the development site has direct access to Interstate 15. Chino Airport is across the street from the site and Ontario International Airport is seven miles to the north.

The Ontario Ranch Business Park is adjacent to the 124-acre Ontario Ranch Logistics Center, an industrial campus developed by the partnership of REDA and Clarion after the joint venture acquired the property in 2017.

The three-building Logistic Center encompasses 2.6 million square feet offering 40-foot clearances and cross-dock configuration. Construction began in 2019 and the first building in the project, totaling 1.18 million square feet, was leased by Kimberly-Clark.

CBRE and Lee & Associates are providing leasing services for the Ontario Ranch Business Park.