West Coast Logistics Mega-Hubs Nail $1.2B in Financing

Two massive West Coast logistics projects have secured nearly $1.2B in financing.

A partnership between Hillwood Development and CBRE Investment Management has closed on a $756M package to finance construction of the first phase of Speedway Commerce Center, a 6.6M SF logistics hub that is rising on the site of a former NASCAR race track in Fontana.

Bank OZK is providing a senior loan for the Inland Empire project, with BDT and MSD Partners providing mezzanine financing, according to a report in Commercial Observer.

Eastdil Secured arranged the finance package. Dan de la Paz, Eloy Covarrubias and Barbara Perrier of CBRE have been tapped to handle leasing efforts for the project.

Construction has begun on the project, which is entitled for up to 6.6M SF, with the first two buildings expected to be delivered early in 2025.

“We designed the Speedway Commerce Center to specifically meet the critical need for well-located, modern logistics properties in this high-demand region,” said Mary Lang, head of Americas direct logistics strategies for CBRE Investment Management, in a statement.

“We believe that this financing milestone is further confirmation of the market’s confidence in our strategy of developing Class A assets that will be crucial to meet occupiers’ evolving technology and operation needs.” Lang said.

A year ago, Hillwood, a company headed by billionaire Ross Perot, Jr., and CBRE IM purchased for $559M the Auto Club Speedway, a 364-acre NASCAR race track in Fontana. The developers bought the speedway at 9300 Cherry Avenue from Auto Club Speedway, a NASCAR entity, in a deal brokered by Corion Properties.

Auto Club Speedway retained ownership of 90 acres for a potential half-mile short track and parking rights for 106 acres of the parking area. The nearly $1M per acre paid by the buyers made the transaction one of the highest-priced deals in the Western Inland Empire, where large tracts for mega-warehouses are getting scarce.

Bridge Industrial has secured a $413M debt package to build the 2.5M SF Bridge Point Tacoma logistics hub in Tacoma, WA. Bank OZK is providing a $263M senior construction loan for the project.

Chicago-based Bridge Industrial is developing a four-building industrial campus on the site of a former BNSF Railway Co. property in South Tacoma’s Nalley Valley.

Bridge is planning warehouses ranging from 320K SF to nearly 1M SF, according to marketing materials from Kidder Mathews, which is handling leasing activities for the project.