One of the largest warehouse landlords acquired a $1B portfolio from Blackstone, significantly growing its presence in Southern California.

Rexford Industrial Realty acquired a 3M SF, 48-property portfolio that spans Los Angeles and Orange counties, according to a press release. The portfolio is 98% leased, and the deal averages out to $332 per SF.

The properties sold in separate transactions by multiple subsidiaries of the investment giant: Blackstone Property Partners, Blackstone Real Estate Partners and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust.

"These strategic investments in exceptionally well-located, high-quality assets within infill Southern California, the nation's highest-barrier and lowest supply industrial market, represent a significant opportunity to drive accretive cash flow growth, increased operating margins and long-term value creation," Howard Schwimmer and Michael Frankel, co-CEOs of Rexford Industrial, said in a joint statement.

The Los Angeles-based REIT said it has another $300M in investments under contract. Rexford's portfolio consists of 422 properties and 49M SF in Southern California.

Blackstone, which still owns over 50M SF of warehouses in Southern California, still sees industrial investment as a "high conviction theme."

"These transactions represent an excellent outcome for our investors and demonstrate the strong institutional demand for high-quality assets in attractive markets like Southern California," Blackstone co-Head of Americas Acquisitions David Levine said in a statement.

Blackstone has also bought industrial in other markets over the last few months, including a 1.4M SF warehouse portfolio in Dallas-Forth Worth and the refinancing of a 109-property industrial portfolio across nine states.