Rexford Industrial Ends 2018 With 2 Deals

By Barbra Murray

14421-14441 Bonelli St.

Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. closed 2018 with the announcement of transactions valued at an aggregate $29.9 million and totaling nearly 200,000 square feet. The REIT, which focuses on the Southern California market, acquired one industrial property and sold another in metropolitan Los Angeles.

In an off-market transaction, Rexford purchased the single-tenant building at 14421-14441 Bonelli St. in the City of Industry, enhancing its portfolio by approximately 148,700 square feet. “We continue to capitalize on our research-driven platform and extensive market relationships to source attractive investment opportunities in Southern California’s highly fragmented and supply-constrained infill industrial market,” Howard Schwimmer and Michael Frankel, co-CEOs of Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. said in prepared remarks. The company relied on cash on hand and disposition proceeds to finance the $19.5 million acquisition of the 100 percent leased industrial facility, which occupies a 6.2-acre site.

Rexford also continued its capital recycling program with the disposition of a 48,000-square-foot complex located on roughly 3.2 acres at 311, 319 and 329 E. 157th St. in Gardena. The property’s three buildings sold to the owner-occupants for an aggregate $10.4 million. Rexford turned a notable profit on the deal, selling the asset for a weighted average of $207 per square foot after having acquired it for $65 per square foot in 2006. The REIT utilized a percentage of the proceeds from the transaction to finance the purchase of the Bonelli St. property. 

New year, same plan

There’s more of the same on the horizon for Rexford. “As we look ahead to 2019, we continue to see favorable opportunities to grow Rexford’s portfolio of high-quality industrial assets to further enhance our cash flow and to create value for our shareholders,” Schwimmer and Frankel said.

The industrial sector is thriving across the country, and in Southern California’s Mid-Counties area, the geographic heart of the Southern California industrial market, investor competition for assets will likely continue to be very strong. “Industrial demand remains at record levels for Southern California, with Mid-Counties being one of the most sought-after areas for distribution and last-mile industrial users,” according to a third quarter 2018 report by commercial real estate services firm Colliers International. “As rents continue to rise, industrial users continue to purchase real estate, which is further driving up sale prices.”

In the third quarter, cap rate compression in the area persisted, dropping to 5 percent. “No other property type has seen such continued compression in cap rates, especially at a time when 100-year treasury rates have increased over the past year by 70 bps,” per the report. 

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