It seems like there’s gold in the ground in Southern California’s Inland Empire.
Brookfield Properties has agreed to put down $72 million for almost 40 acres of land in Rialto, a small town in San Bernardino County about 55 miles east of Downtown Los Angeles, according to data provided by Vizzda. It was owned by an entity traced to delivery giant UPS.
That’s about $1.8 million per acre of empty land.
The site is near a Target distribution center, and about a mile and a half north of the Rialto Airport and an Amazon fulfillment center.
According to its website, Brookfield also owns a 758,940-square-foot logistics center about five miles east in Rialto. Vizzda was unable to confirm if the site is entitled for new development, and Brookfield did not immediately return a request for comment on details for its plans for the property.
Approximately 33.6 million square feet of industrial space was under construction in the Inland Empire in the second quarter, according to a report from CBRE (CBRE). More than 4 million square feet of space was delivered from April to June, and another 4.9 million square feet in new construction broke ground.
The Inland Empire’s vacancy rate ticked up 90 basis points between the first and second quarters this year, but is still at a very strong 2.7 percent. Rialto alone has more than 36 million square feet of industrial space with a 1.7 percent vacancy rate, per CBRE.
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
