Private equity firms are continuing to purchase large swaths of logistics real estate, as EQT Real Estate on Thursday said it had acquired a portfolio of 32 buildings across five submarkets in Southern California —totaling 5.2 million square feet—from Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc.
Specifically, the firm’s EQT Real Estate Industrial Value Fund VI said over 50% of the new square footage sits in infill locations — Los Angeles, Orange County, the San Gabriel Valley and South Bay — within about 25 miles of the Los Angeles/Long Beach port complex. The remaining 46% is concentrated in Inland Empire West, along the I-10, I-15, SR-60 and SR-91 freight corridors near Ontario International Airport.
The portfolio is 96% leased to 36 tenants spanning automotive, logistics and third-party logistics, apparel and fashion, consumer electronics, food and beverage, consumer goods, chemicals and plastics, aerospace and defense, and electrical, HVAC and building products, with a weighted average lease term of 2.7 years.
The deal came the same day that another private equity-backed buyer—Blackstone-funded Link Logistics—said it had acquired a four-building portfolio of last-mile industrial real estate and warehouse properties totaling 697,276 square feet across the Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta metropolitan areas.
The deal adds to what Link Logistics called its “significant footprint” in Dallas-Fort Worth, with more than 33 million square feet, and in Atlanta, with more than 38 million square feet.
“Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta continue to see strong logistics demand as population growth and business investment support durable industrial fundamentals,” said Laura Hyde, managing director, Investments, Link Logistics. “These properties complement our existing footprint and are located in established infill submarkets that provide customers with direct access to labor and major transportation networks.”