Corion Properties, Inc announces the completed sale of phase 1 of 433 acres in the highly sought after Inland Empire West submarket of Southern California by Auto Club Speedway (“Seller”) to Dallas-based Hillwood Investment Properties and CBRE Investment Management (“Buyer”). Phase 1 included 364.2 acres. Total consideration included a recorded transaction price of $559 million and ongoing buyer obligations for future development, maintenance and use of the parking area for a proposed new short track. Phase 2, encompassing approximately 69 acres, is scheduled to close on or before December 31, 2026. Located on the Auto Club Speedway property at the juncture of the I-15 and I-10 Freeways in Fontana, CA, the ACS Logistics Center is fully entitled for up to 6,600,000 square feet of modern logistics facilities. Situated at the heart of the Inland Empire industrial market, which includes 632 million square feet total inventory and a 1.1% vacancy in the Inland Empire West, the ACS Logistics Center will include abundant features programmed to mitigate environmental impacts and appeal to sophisticated logistics tenant ESG requirements.
Development of the property and track, site of the former Kaiser Steel Mill, began in 1995 and was completed in late 1996. Auto Club Speedway received entitlements from the County of San Bernardino in 2021 to reduce the size of the exiting two-mile track to develop a smaller ½ mile “Next Gen” short track, and to make room for the ACS Logistics Center. Auto Club Speedway retains ownership of 90 acres for the short track and parking use rights for 106 acres of parking area.
Corion Properties Founder and CEO Fred Cordova, Partner Ravi Choudhry, President Al Grazioli, and Associate Vice President JoAnn Horeni represented the Seller. “The ACS Logistics Center is a true “unicorn” site and perhaps the best site of its size in the entire United States,” said Corion’s Cordova. “We worked very closely with a terrific world-class client (NASCAR) and buyer (Hillwood & CBREIM) for nearly three years, sometimes under intense pressure and throughout the night to achieve such an incredibly successful outcome for the parties. The process presented challenges, but ultimately it was an immensely rewarding experience for the Corion team because it validates our mission to impact alpha with unique market valuation and disposition processes designed to optimize transaction performance”.
The Inland Empire is one of the nation's largest industrial markets due to its proximity to more than 20 million residents across Southern California and a major gateway for international trade out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Persistent demand from logistics and warehousing firms has kept vacancies compressed relative to the nation. Market rents increased 37% year over year, and average rents have risen to $1.47 NNN. Developers remain extremely active with 40.5 million square feet currently under construction. Net deliveries are projected to total 39.6 million in 2023. The presence of high-credit tenants, such as Amazon, Walmart, Target, and General Pacific, attracts institutional investors from across the world.
Corion Properties, Inc. is a boutique brokerage, investment management and advisory services firm based in Santa Monica, CA specializing in helping property owners “Impact Alpha” in the performance and monetization of their properties. https://www.corionenterprises.com/
