DMSI Signs 350 KSF Industrial Lease in California

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Mac Hewett

Shafter, Calif.—Distribution and Marking Services Inc. has signed a 350,000-square-foot industrial lease at Wonderful Industrial Park, a 1,625-acre, rail-served industrial development in Shafter, Calif.

JLL negotiated the lease agreement.

“The appeal was two-fold,” Mac Hewett, JLL associate for industrial and logistics services, told Commercial Property Executive. “The primary client was very close by and the product being stored is seasonal, so the central valley location was optimal as it is bulk storage and then needs to go out when the season ramp up starts for the retailers at the stores.”

Located at 5000 Capital Road, Wonderful Industrial Park is able to accommodate a variety of industrial requirements ranging from approximately 100,000 to 2 million square feet of space. DMSI will use its new facility to provide clients with warehouse and distribution solutions.

According to Hewett, while DMSI was able to take advantage of competitive real estate in a geographically central location, getting into the building quickly was also a critical component of the deal.

“Specific to Bakersfield, there were limited comparable options. However the central valley is typically a ‘regional’ submarket, meaning a requirement can often look in multiple cities such as Bakersfield/Shafter, Tejon, Visalia, Hanford, Fresno, even sometimes up to Merced,” he said. “There are several existing buildings in the 100,000- to 300,000-square-foot size range in each of these submarkets. We definitely had an advantage with the existing client being so close.”

Wonderful Industrial Park’s central location is just minutes from Highway 99, Interstate 5 and Highway 58, allowing access to 14 percent of the U.S. population within 300 miles, and offers convenient dual port access to the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, as well as Port of Oakland. It has a FedEx Ground hub onsite and is nearby a UPS ground hub in Bakersfield, with Meadows Field Airport located only 7 miles away.

“From a location standpoint, you can reach 35 million people in a one-day truck turn, and 70 million within two. It is truly set up as a super-regional distribution hub with all the bells and whistles,” Hewett said. “The infrastructure that Wonderful Real Estate has put into place is also second to none. A high-speed fiber optics network supporting 10gbps is in place throughout the entire project. The labor is great and Wonderful has made it clear they want to establish partnerships with tenants in the project to help with seasonal labor demands.”

Wonderful Industrial Park also features an onsite rail yard with more than 17,000 feet of track able to accommodate unit trains with direct access to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway’s mainline.

JLL’s Mike McCrary, Peter McWilliams and Nicole Welch joined Hewett in representing the landlord on the deal.