How Is Industrial Real Estate Today?

How Is Industrial Real Estate Today?

Map showing electrical symbol for buildings with increasing size based on building
Power Map of Buildings In LA County

Industrial real estate is a diverse business that includes Investment funds, developers, private/family owners, corporations, occupiers, and a mix of product types and industries. Industrial buildings are in every community and are the source of employment, production, distribution, and wealth for many. The nation’s economic health rides on the success of industrial real estate.

There are several factors that are driving deals today. Broadly, these include Interest Rate Policy, US Industrial Strategy, and Local Municipal Governance. Everyone is affected differently. For example, higher interest rates are never good for real estate, though they affect sales more than leases; sale transactions are interest rate sensitive while leasing is supply and demand based. As an experienced broker, we use detailed knowledge, market analytics, and long-standing relationships to help you in making the best decision.
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New Gardena Industrial Commentary

New Gardena Industrial Commentary


The geography of Gardena needs explanation. There is the City of Gardena proper and three times larger than the city boundary, is the Gardena Postal Zone. The larger Gardena area includes parts of Unincorporated Los Angeles County (West Rancho Dominguez), City of Los Angeles Strip, and the northwestern part of Carson. The zip code 90061 is also included in most market studies of Gardena because it squares off the uniform industrial portion of West Rancho on the north side. When someone asks me how the real estate business is in Gardena, it depends where you are located. Each municipality has its own zoning regulations and homeless policies which have a direct relationship to the individual parcel value.
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New Industrial Down Zone for West Rancho

New Industrial Down Zone for West Rancho

 

(This article has been updated with relevant links below)

Industrial property owners in the West Rancho Dominguez Planning District of Los Angeles County are facing another downzone in the Metro Area Plan. The M1 (Light Manufacturing) is being replaced by a new, more restrictive category, M.0.5 (Artistic Production and Custom Manufacturing). This zoning limitation will reduce the pool of economically feasible tenants and lower the rents property owners can charge. While most citizens of Los Angeles don’t cry over the landlord’s income, the unintended consequence will be plant relocations and job losses.
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Three Innovations for 2023

Three Innovations for 2023

ChatGPT:

I could not start the year without acknowledging the tools that are currently available at Open AI. I’ve recently created a new FAQ page with the use of ChatGPT and Dall-E 2. It must have been under the wire before Google Search created new defenses against text bots. I received one solid lead from a company looking for 30,000 square feet because of the AI-generated explanation of my services.
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Leasing Industrial Property in Los Angeles County Under the New Green Zone Ordinance

Leasing Industrial Property in Los Angeles County Under the New Green Zone Ordinance

Leasing Industrial Property in Los Angeles County Under the New Green Zone Ordinance

Green Zones

Green Zones are an entirely different way to look at zoning. It is an outgrowth of the Environmental Justice Movement that had its local origins addressing diesel exhaust at the Port Complex in San Pedro Bay. Properties are analyzed and graded based on their contribution to health disparities using the Environmental Justice Screening Method (EJSM). The EJSM is a new tool and strategy that is designed to correct unhealthy conditions by establishing new mitigation mechanisms. The County will use the EJSM for ongoing monitoring and annual reporting to the parcel level.

Depending on the EJSM score, Regional Planning offers four (4) different routes to approval. The simplest is Site Plan Review (SPR) and it is approved administratively in what we use to call, “over the counter”. The other three routes are discretionary and require formal application and Public Hearing at different levels of planning authority. Generally, the greater the health impact, the longer the approvals.
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Stricter Underwriting is Here – Industrial Policy is a New Catalyst

Stricter Underwriting is Here – Industrial Policy is a New Catalyst

For the past several years, and particularly during the COVID-19 Period, conventional underwriting took a back seat to momentum. No one’s pro-forma predicted the incredible rent growth over this period. Low interest rates and shortage of product drove prices higher. Industrial rents doubled in two years. Underwriting was limited to the simple and liberal measurement of Net Rent/Purchase Price = Rate of Return. Any return higher than treasury rates signaled a buy. It was the period of “Search for Yield”.
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Blockchain: Should You Post Your Industrial Property?

Blockchain: Should You Post Your Industrial Property?

Putting a property on the blockchain allows people to transact if they have the link. When we post a property, the blockchain generates a cryptographic key which allows the possessor access to the property. We give that key, in the form of a link or a QR code. There are associated rights with the key that are compared to an NFT or a token, but our purpose for using the blockchain is its ordering system. The key is only sent to Selected Trusted Parties that are registered or known.  Nothing is posted online or in the Multiple Listing Services because blockchain is used for privacy.
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Recent Observations: Real Estate Trends

Recent Observations: Real Estate Trends

postcard with SQFT text

Observations of Industrial Real Estate Trends

Real Estate Trends – The Good

Intense industrial real estate trends and conditions are diminishing. There are fewer container ships waiting to unload. The cost to ship a container from Shanghai to Los Angeles is 30% lower from its high. Building rents are still increasing but the doubling during the Covid-19 period was an aberration. While signs of a hyper-market are departing, a strong industrial market remains. There is a deficit of available space, strong corporate demand to improve supply chains and manufacturing resiliency, e-commerce, and high investment flow. Rent surges will continue with holiday stocking schedules starting in the Summer and again later in the year when China re-opens from its Covid-19 lockdown.
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