Transwestern Kicks Off Inland Empire Industrial Projects

Almeria Logistics Center. Rendering courtesy of Transwestern Development Co.

Transwestern Development Co. has broken ground on a pair of speculative industrial projects totaling more than 483,500 square feet in a bid to capitalize on growing e-commerce demand in Southern California’s Inland Empire. Located next to Interstates 10 and 15 in the city of Fontana, the developments are slated for completion later this year.

Canadian real estate investment giant QuadReal Property Group is the equity partner on the 235,894-square-foot Almeria Logistics Center. The developer partnered with Transwestern Investment Group on the other project, I-10 Commerce Center, which will span two buildings of 172,219 square feet and 75,428 square feet. 

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Almeria Logistics Center, sited near Almeria Avenue and Foothill Boulevard, will offer easy access to Interstate 15 and is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of the year. I-10 Commerce Center is located near the intersection of Boyle and Juniper avenues and expected to be completed in the fourth quarter.

Both facilities are geared toward the needs of sophisticated e-commerce and logistics users, with expansive building volumes, 36-foot clear height, ESFR sprinkler systems and superior dock-high loading as well as large concrete truck courts. Colliers International has been tapped to lease up both projects.

Inland Empire Boom

Fontana, located about 50 miles east of Los Angeles, is a key node of the Inland Empire industrial market, which saw 39.5 million square feet of gross absorption in 2020, according to Transwestern research. Absorption edged down from the 41.1 million square feet reported in 2019 due to a pandemic-related slowdown in construction deliveries.

Transwestern Development Co. joins other real estate heavyweights that are boosting their industrial footprint in the Inland Empire West market. Earlier this month, Brookfield Properties announced it had acquired a 15-acre development site in Fontana where it will build a 332,000-square-foot, Class A distribution center. The company expects to wrap up the project, which features 36-foot clear heights, in the spring of 2022.

Elsewhere in Fontana, Brookfield is also working on its Slover Elm Commerce Center at Slover and Elm Avenues. The company, which dubs Inland Empire West the “premier big box market in the U.S.,” broke ground on the 192,000-square-foot, rear-load logistics property last month.

Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. is also growing in the submarket. In December, the REIT acquired a portfolio of four single-tenant industrial buildings totaling 632,497 square feet in Fontana, Montclair and Rialto for $129.4 million.