Amazon.com Leases Two 1M sf Warehouses in the Inland Empire

Amazon.com has inked deals for two distribution warehouses of 1 million square feet each in the Inland Empire, where vacancy has ticked up in the top industrial market in the nation.

The Seattle-based e-commerce giant last quarter leased one warehouse at 4000 South Hamner Avenue in Ontario and another at 6120 Clinker Drive in Jurupa Valley, the Commercial Observer reported, citing a report from Savills.

The owner of the new Amazon warehouse in Ontario is Dermody Properties, based in Reno. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The property is not far from three other large Amazon distribution and fulfillment centers in one of the region’s densest warehousing submarkets near Ontario International Airport and Ontario Ranch.

The owners of the new warehouse at the Agua Mansa Commerce Park in Jurupa Valley are Newport Beach-based CT Realty and PGIM Real Estate, based in New Jersey. Terms of that deal were also not disclosed.

The two new Amazon leases were among the five tenant contracts signed for more than 1 million square feet in the first quarter in the Inland Empire, which has experienced a weakening market, according to the Observer.

The industrial vacancy in the IE rose 1 percent to 7.8 percent from the prior quarter, and increased 4.9 percent from the previous year.

Even with the large Amazon leases, leasing activity dropped by 500,000 square feet, according to Savills.

Available sublease space jumped by 33.3 percent to more than 20.3 million square feet — the highest amount on record. Vacancy is expected to continue to increase this year, the report said.

In January, Denmark-based Maersk leased a 1.2 million-square-foot distribution warehouse along the 15 Freeway at 8140 Caliente Road, in Hesperia, on the edge of the Inland Empire.

— Dana Bartholomew