Overton Moore Buys 18 Acres of Industrial Land in Pomona, Calif.

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Overton Moore Properties, of Gardena, Calif., has acquired 18 acres of industrial land in Pomona, Calif., and immediately begun construction on a 240,000-square-foot Class A build-to-suit industrial property, the developer announced Friday.

The property, located along the 71 Freeway at the Valley Boulevard exit, is being developed for Graybar Electric Co., a distributor of electrical, communications, data networking and security products that has more than 250 locations across North America. Graybar will be expanding from its existing facilities in City of Industry, Calif.

Delivery is scheduled for January 2015. Financials on the transaction were not disclosed.

While the property was in escrow, OMP completed construction documentation and received a grading permit, so the developer started grading immediately after closing on the land purchase, Timur Tecimer, CEO of OMP, told Commercial Property Executive.

OMP acquired the land from ATC Realty. Both parties were represented by Steve Belletti, senior executive vice president, and Tom Taylor, senior executive vice president, from Colliers International.

Colliers also represented OMP on the BTS, while Rick Sheckter, executive managing director from Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, represented Graybar.

The architect is HPA, and Fullmer Construction Co. is the general contractor. Wells Fargo N.A. provided the construction financing for the project.

The San Gabriel Valley submarket has experienced “yet another robust quarter” with industrial vacancy rates dipping below 3 percent for the first time since 2007, Nicole Welch, vice president of Industrial Services for JLL, told Commercial Property Executive.

Within Pomona, she reported, vacancy rates are even more compressed, with only roughly 1.5 percent of the market currently vacant. Asking rental rates across the San Gabriel Valley are within 10 percent of peak figures, with an average current asking rate of $0.51 NNN.

Given the lack of quality Class A product, Welch continued, several developers, including Panattoni, Xebec Realty and Seventh Street Development, are moving forward with spec projects.

“Depending upon size, location and building attributes,” she said, “asking prices on new build-to-suit or speculative development have exceeded $130 psf. Looking forward, the combination of limited existing or developable inventory and rising construction costs will encourage further rental appreciation and sale prices.”