Irvine-based Shopoff Realty Investments has closed on the largest transaction in the company’s history, with the nearly $329 million sale of a sprawling distribution center in the Inland Empire.
Shopoff and financial partner Artemis Real Estate Partners sold the just-built 1.8 million-square-foot distribution campus to a Brookfield Asset Management industrial real estate fund.
The I-10 Logistics Center, also referred to as Cherry Valley Logistics Center, is on 155 acres near the juncture of the I-10 freeway and Highway 60. It was completed in December and is leased to fast fashion retailer Shein, which plans to employ nearly 1,000 employees at this location, making it a major hub for national distribution,” Shopoff said in a statement.
Reports indicate Brookfield’s logistics unit paid $328.7 million for the property, or about $183 per square foot.
“With Brookfield’s broad reach and global relationships, we successfully leased the project during construction, strategically positioning our client and tenant to expand their U.S. operations in a critical market,” Joonas Partanen, senior vice president and head of west coast operations for Brookfield Properties’ logistics business, said in a statement.
CBRE represented Brookfield in the lease transaction with Shein and represented both parties in the sale.
Eco-Friendly Logistics
Shopoff and Artemis kicked off construction in April 2021; the property includes two buildings—815,000 square feet and 1 million square feet—designed for LEED Silver Certification, with solar panels to offset all energy usage.
“The project’s design was very intentional, taking into great consideration the surrounding geography and community,” CEO and President Bill Shopoff said in a statement.
The project also included a partnership with the Yucaipa Valley Water District to include 2 miles of pipeline for the recycled water conveyance project, which will supply recycled water for the project’s landscaping and to homes and business throughout Calimesa, saving millions of gallons of potable drinking water every year, according to Shopoff.
Other environmental investments from the project include a permanent preservation of 85 acres of land on the north side of the property through a conservation easement. About a year prior to construction, Shopoff donated 123 adjacent acres to the Beaumont-Cherry Valley Recreation & Park District’s foundation for a future park and open space.
Shopoff and Artemis are also planning upgrades to the I-10 Interchange at Cherry Valley Boulevard “to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion at the interchange.”
Arizona Project
Shopoff is bullish on industrial in and outside of California.
In September, the firm closed on a nearly 270-acre site in Mesa, Ariz., for a proposed manufacturing project totaling up to 4.1 million square feet.
The former dairy farm is about 3 miles from the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. Potential plans may include 12 to 15 buildings with an average size of 500,000 square feet.
“This property is located in a burgeoning employment hub with increasing demand for manufacturing space,” Shopoff said. “We plan to work closely with the city to annex the property into the city of Mesa, and subsequently entitle the property for manufacturing use, in order to meet market demands.”
