2021 was the year of industrial real estate. Buyers snapped up warehouses, distribution centers and manufacturing space at premium prices as a boom in e-commerce propelled the asset class into a new status.
The rise in investment sales was primarily driven by extremely low vacancies and a lack of available inventory. At the end of the third quarter this year, industrial vacancy rates across Los Angeles dropped to 1.4 percent, compared to 1.7 percent at the end of the prior quarter, according to Kidder Mathews.
The 10 deals on this year’s list combine for $1.13 million. The top five were each more than $110 million this year, totaling $669 million — about 11 percent more than their counterparts on the upper half of last year’s list.
Rexford Industrial Realty bought a five-building complex in Torrance in August for $182 million.
Here are the top ten industrial deals across Los Angeles County this year, according to a TRD analysis of data provided by CBRE and Newmark.
1. 3100 Lomita Boulevard | Rexford Industrial Realty | $182 million
(Source: LoopNet)
Claiming the top spot for at least the fourth year in a row is Rexford Industrial Realty. The Los Angeles-based landlord spent $182 million on a 576,000-square-foot industrial complex in Torrance. Rexford spent another $20 million to dispose of an existing loan on the property.
FRM Acquisitions sold the property, which is currently leased to defense contractor L3Harris, as well as a medical center. Once the leases expire, Rexford said it would consider developing a new industrial complex on the site.
The deal came out to around $316 per square foot — slightly more than Rexford’s purchase of 989,200 square feet of industrial space in Whittier for $297 million last year.
2. 25128-25129 Rye Canyon Loop | Oxford Properties Group | $133.5 million
(Source: LoopNet)
The second priciest industrial deal across was a life sciences buy. Oxford Properties paid $133.5 million in September for a 119-acre life sciences and business campus in Santa Clarita. Intertex and Oaktree Capital sold the property. The campus includes 402,500 square feet of current rentable space.
The deal also includes the rights to build on 40 acres of undeveloped land. Oxford Properties said in a statement at the time that it will “explore a range of development options,” adding that the site is approved for varied zoned commercial uses.
Oxford Properties’ purchase came out to around $1.1 million per acre, or around $332 per square foot of rentable space.
3. 2850 E Del Amo Boulevard | CenterPoint Properties | $126 million
(Source: CenterPoint Properties)
In May, national industrial landlord CenterPoint Properties bought a 264,450-square-foot complex in Carson for $126 million. The firm bought the property, which includes 66 dock doors and parking for 180 trailers. from Century Distribution Systems and leased it back to the distribution firm.
The deal was around $476 per square foot — one of the pricier deals in terms of price per foot.
4. 17411 Valley Boulevard | Scout Capital Partners, AEW Capital Management | $117 million
(Source: LoopNet)
Miami-based Scout Capital Partners in August bought a 350,000-square-foot warehouse in the City of Industry from a limited liability company linked to Los Angeles-based Seidler Equity Partners for $117 million — around $334 per square foot.
Seidler had bought the property for $38.25 million in 2007, records show.
Scout Capital Partners, founded in 2017, invests primarily in cold storage facilities, but it’s unclear whether the firm will convert the property into one. However, it secured a $450 million, five-year credit line in connection with the deal and bought the property through an LLC called “Scout Cold Storage City of Industry.”
5. 25655 Springbrook Avenue | Covington Group | $110 million
(Source: LoopNet)
In November, Dallas-based investment group Covington Group purchased a 24-building complex totaling just under 975,000 square feet of space in Santa Clarita for $109.6 million, records show. TMC Properties sold the complex.
The deal was around $110 per square foot.
6. 15005 Northam Street | LBA Realty | $96 million
(Source: CommercialEdge)
In the southeast city of La Mirada, LBA Realty purchased a 225,016-square-foot warehouse for $96 million, around $424 per square foot — one of the more expensive deals per square foot.
One of the world’s largest paper and pulp manufacturers, International Paper Company, which also occupies the building.
7. 2445 East 12th Street | Rexford Industrial Realty | $94 million
(Source: MyEListing)
Rexford made this year’s top ten list for the second time for its purchase of a creative industrial park in L.A.’s Arts District for $94 million, around $383 per square foot.
The firm bought the 261,528-square-foot, four-building complex from Bridge Industrial. It’s 94 percent leased to textile manufacturers and clothing retailers, including styling firm DailyLook and online clothing wholesaler 2NE1 Apparel.
8. 25155 Rye Canyon Loop | Cantor Fitzgerald | $92 million
(Source: LoopNet)
On the same site where Oxford Properties bought its $133 million life sciences campus, Cantor Fitzgerald purchased a 180,415-square-foot building on the Valencia campus in July for $92 million.
The deal was the second most expensive deal in terms of price per square foot at $510.
Cantor Fitzgerald bought the complex, which is fully leased to Boston Scientific, from Oaktree Capital Management.
9. 5426 San Fernando Road | East End Capital | $91 million
(Source: LoopNet)
East End Capital, an office, residential and production studio developer, purchased the 167,500-square-foot complex for $91 million in August, in the most expensive deal in terms of price per square foot at $543.
The firm bought the property from Dundee Company.
10. 1716 E 7th Street | Prologis | $90 million
(Source: LoopNet)
Rounding out this year’s top ten priciest deals was Prologis’ buy of a Greyhound Bus Station in Downtown Los Angeles.
The industrial REIT purchased 361,707 square feet of land from Dallas-based Greyhound Lines and immediately leased it back to the transportation firm.
The deal came out to around $249 per square foot.