Walt Disney Co. recently signed a lease for an industrial building in Anaheim, the latest notable real estate move of Orange County’s largest employer and the biggest industrial lease in OC so far this year by square footage.
The Burbank-based company will occupy about 200,000 square feet of distribution space at 1501 E. Cerritos Ave., roughly a mile east of Disneyland Resort near State College Boulevard.
Disney already occupied 200,000 square feet of industrial space at the adjoining 1601 E. Cerritos; combined, the buildings represent the largest block of space it’s known to occupy in OC beyond the immediate vicinity of its theme parks.
It’s also believed to be one of the largest area buildings the company occupies without owning.
Disney’s largest office address in Anaheim is a four-story building on Ball Avenue spanning nearly 340,000 square feet. It owns the office, which sits next to the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway and its theme parks.
Other notable industrial properties it leases in Anaheim include a recently built, 162,000-square-foot facility in the Anaheim Concourse development.
Alstyle Departure
Disney uses the 1601 E. Cerritos facility for a variety of purposes, primarily to support the theme parks, according to real estate sources, who say it uses parts of the space to store parade items and other effects, another part as a bakery.
The company, whose market value is $152 billion (NYSE: DIS), hasn’t disclosed plans for the additional space it will occupy later this year. The facility includes 16,280 square feet of office space and has 49 loading doors, among other features, according to marketing material from the local office of CBRE Group Inc., whose Brad Bierbaum and Hayden Bierbaum had the listing.
The space was last used by T-shirt and sweatshirt maker Alstyle Apparel, which was acquired in 2016 by Canadian sportswear firm Gildan Activewear.
Gildan, which also owns the American Apparel brand, moved area operations last year to a larger facility in Jurupa Valley. Alstyle announced late last year that it would lay off 81 employees in Anaheim as a result of the move.
Both Cerritos Avenue facilities are owned by a real estate investment affiliate of JPMorgan and managed by Irvine-based Sares-Regis Group.
Older Base
The owners plan to put several million dollars’ worth of upgrades in the empty facility at 1501 E. Cerritos before Disney moves in, say sources familiar with the lease.
The property was built in 1968, according to CoStar records, and at 50 is on the older side for area industrial properties. OC’s warehouse and distribution facilities average 39 years, according to a recent CBRE report.
OC’s 146 million square feet of warehouse space is on average the 13th-oldest among large U.S. markets, according to CBRE.
Los Angeles’ base of 495 million square feet of warehouse space, also about 39 years on average, makes it 11th-oldest, and the Inland Empire’s 454 million square feet, 20 years on average, is the youngest.
“Markets with the newest warehouses tend to have ample developable land and are near major population centers, while markets with the oldest warehouses tend to serve heavy industrial and shipping centers,” the CBRE report said.
Active Construction
Disney employs about 27,000 workers here, primarily in Anaheim. That’s likely to increase once its new, 14-acre Star Wars-themed area at Disneyland opens next year.
Major redevelopment of its Downtown Disney shopping and entertainment area, alongside a new, 700-room hotel at Disneyland Resort, are also under way in the area.
Company executives announced last month that a number of Downtown Disney restaurants and stores will close by the end of June in preparation for construction on the 17-acre hotel, which will take about three years to build.
Among the biggest closures will be the AMC 12 Theatres movie complex, which is moving to the nearby Anaheim GardenWalk shopping center.
