Tejon Ranch Co. and Dedeaux Properties will break ground on a 510K SF industrial facility at the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center in Kern County's Lebec.

Construction on the facility, located about 75 miles north of Los Angeles, is expected to be complete in early 2027. It will include 36-foot clear heights, 100 dock-high doors and 4K SF of turnkey office space, according to a release from the developers.

“We’re building into a market where industrial supply across Southern California is limited, and leasing demand has been accelerating,” Tejon Ranch Co. President and CEO Matt Walker said in a statement. “Our new facility is well timed to meet the market.”

Industrial vacancies in Southern California have increased steadily over the past year amid a wave of new deliveries, but leasing activity improved in the first quarter, according to CBRE.

Leasing volume totaled 22.3M SF in the core of the Inland Empire, a 21.9% annual increase. About 61% of that was new leases.

The entire Tejon Ranch Commerce Center is entitled for 11M SF more of industrial space. It currently has 7M SF of leased industrial space and counts Ikea, Famous Footwear and Plant Prefab among its tenants.

The 510K SF industrial project is Dedeaux’s second industrial project in the TRCC. In 2024, Dedeaux sold a 233K SF warehouse and distribution facility to an unnamed national clothing and textile distributor that was relocating from the Inland Empire, according to the release.

The closest parts of Kern County and the high desert have served as a kind of overflow for the Inland Empire, with occupiers looking for more space or lower rates coming to secure space. In Kern County, boosters have also touted a more business-friendly environment and labor force.

The Inland Empire has high single-digit vacancy, but prices are still well above where they were prior to the pandemic.