Bakery Supplier Leases 87K sf Warehouse in Gardena

Puratos, a bakery supplier based in Belgium, has leased an 86,900-square-foot warehouse in Gardena from Rexford Industrial Realty.

The supplier to “bakery, patisserie and chocolate sectors” leased the newly built warehouse at 15601 South Avalon Boulevard, the Commercial Observer reported. The landlord Rexford is a real estate investment trust based in Sawtelle.

Terms of the South Bay lease were not disclosed. Broker Edward Michino of NAI Capital represented the tenant.

The distribution warehouse, built this year, is 12 miles from Los Angeles International Airport and 20 miles from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. It has electric vehicle charging.

“The competition for state-of-the-art warehouse space remains intense, with limited availability,” Michino told the Observer. “This exceptional facility, located in a prime South Bay transportation hub, provides Puratos Corporation with a strategic location for its expanding business operations.”

Industrial rents in Los Angeles rose 13.1 percent after the first quarter, the second-highest yearly increase in the nation, according to Commercial Edge. 

After Orange County and the Bay Area, L.A. is the third-most-expensive market for tenants in the U.S., with an average asking rent of $11.80 per square foot. It also has one of the lowest vacancy rates.

Rexford manages 364 properties with 44 million rentable square feet.The landlord’s assets have an occupancy rate of nearly 98 percent, the Observer reported.

The industrial REIT reported $58 million in net income in the first quarter, up 32 percent from the same period last year, according to The Real Deal. Revenues were $186 million, compared to $141 million the prior year — also a 32 percent increase. 

Last year, Rexford spent $2.4 billion buying industrial properties, compared to $971 million in 2019, when it reported a yearly net income of $50.5 million — what the firm now makes in one quarter.

In March, the industrial investor bought an 18-acre Hertz car lot near LAX in a sale-leaseback deal for $143 million. The site is zoned for industrial use.

In two recent acquisitions, Rexford paid $27.5 million for a 6.6-acre industrial property at 13925 Benson Avenue in Chino; and paid $14.6 million for a property at 19301 South Santa Fe Avenue in Rancho Dominguez, according to the Observer.

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— Dana Bartholomew