A Canadian e-commerce company's lease of a huge warehouse near San Bernardino was among several big industrial deals that demonstrated the keen tenant appetite for distribution and logistics properties in Southern California's Inland Empire.
Shopify, a global e-commerce platform that helps companies sell goods online, leased a nearly 1.1 million-square-foot warehouse near San Bernardino International Airport in Highland, California, in one of the year's biggest leases of 2022 in the Inland Empire by total square footage.
The development at 2615 E. Third St. called San Manuel Landing was fully leased several months before it finished construction in November, earning the transaction a 2023 CoStar Impact Award, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the market.
The project developed by the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians is part of a record industrial construction and leasing boom in the Inland Empire over the past year. Amazon, NFI Industries and Skechers are other large companies that moved into large distribution centers in 2022.
Several mega-warehouses larger than 1 million square feet are slated to be occupied by Amazon, Home Depot, Shein and Target in San Bernardino and Riverside counties this year.
Shopify, a multinational company based in Ottawa, Ontario, signed its lease in July, well before San Manuel finished construction of the giant warehouse across more than 50 acres at Third Street and Victoria Avenue, just west of Alabama Street.
The location near the 210 freeway and Interstate 10 allows Shopify to compete with Amazon on quick delivery to customers across Southern California.
About the project: Shopify plans to use the warehouse next to San Bernardino International Airport, a key Southern California cargo hub, as a base for its online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Neighbors of the warehouse include an Amazon fulfillment center. The development, which was one of the few available modern warehouse facilities built in the San Bernardino area, has 218 dock-high doors and four grade-level doors. The project includes drought-tolerant landscaping highlighted by a linear park, a historical water tower and a mural wall highlighting the area's history.
What the judges said: Rene Ramos Jr., president of KW Commercial, noted that the developers overcame several challenges, including getting the project through the city approval process and adapting to changing market conditions that included rising interest rates. Jason Lamoreaux, president of Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate Solutions, described the project as a great addition to the region, and a successful lease on a complicated transaction.
They made it happen: Kent Hindes, managing director, Phil Lombardo, vice chairman, and Andrew Starnes, executive managing director, all with Cushman & Wakefield, represented the landlord.
