Orange County’s largest Hispanic supermarket operator has leased a 120,000-square-foot building in Anaheim as part of a consolidation and expansion of its distribution operations.
Anaheim-based Northgate Gonzalez Supermar-kets plans to move some operations in November from two nearby buildings totaling 80,000 square feet, according to Carl Middleton, a vice president overseeing real estate for the grocer.
The new building, at 1400 Allec St. near Katella Avenue and the Santa Ana (I-5) Freeway, has 36,000 square feet of refrigeration and freezer space,a key selling point, Middleton said.
Northgate now ships chilled goods such as eggs and lunchmeats directly to stores or rents cooler space, he said.
“We can provide lower costs to our customers if we inventory refrigerated products,” Middleton said.
Northgate signed a five-year, $5.1 million lease with Newport Beach-based Alere Property Group LLC, according to the landlord.
The supermarket operator has an option for another five years.
Alere recently bought the building for $9.2 million. The company, formed in 2003 by Michael Cushing and Daniel Webb, invests in and develops industrial buildings.
Anaheim’s average rent for industrial space is 53 cents per square foot per month, higher than the average for North County but cheaper than Irvine and other cities, according to Voit Commercial Brokerage LP.
Anaheim’s rents are on the rise as vacancy gets tighter, brokers said. Anaheim’s overall industrial vacancy rate is 2.9%, less than the county’s 4.3%, according to Voit.
Industrial space is poised to get even tighter in Anaheim as the city swaps it for housing. Several developers have taken advantage of a zoning change and have bought industrial land around Angel Stadium of Anaheim to build high-rise condominiums and other housing.
Northgate’s Middleton said his company is set to keep its headquarters and distribution facility at Vermont Avenue a few blocks away from the new building.
Consolidating should be more efficient, Middleton said. The company also needed more space, he said.
Northgate employs about 3,000 workers, with more than half in OC, according to Middleton.
The family business is the largest Hispanic-owned company in the county with an estimated $325 million in yearly sales from 18 stores.
Centennial, Colo.-based food distributor Vistar/VSA Corp. plans to move from the Allec Street building to Industry in the fall.
Vistar delivers food to Quiznos as well as pizza shops and other eateries. It’s moving to a larger site in September, according to landlord Alere.
Alere owns 760,000 square feet in OC, with tenants such as Fullerton-based gift basket company Houdini Inc. and Brea vitamins distributor Nature’s Best.
Rick Ellison and Jeff Chiate of Cushman & Wakefield Inc. represented Alere in the Allec building buy.
The building is just a tad north of Anaheim’s Platinum Triangle, an area the city wants to transform with homes and shops.
The plan is displacing more than 125 small businesses and is set to draw thousands of residents to the area.
Alere’s Webb called Anaheim’s plans “great for industrial owners.”
“In a market that’s already tight as a drum, we are watching the supply of competing industrial buildings being reduced,” he said.
In the first two days his building was listed for lease, Webb said his broker received more than 20 inquiries, many from companies being displaced by housing developers.
As for Northgate, the new building is far enough away from the hub of planned housing around Angel Stadium, according to the company’s Middleton.
