Industrial developer CenterPoint Properties has made the biggest of a growing list of acquisitions, this time in an East Bay market it continues to count on for its active seaport and strong consumer base.
The Chicago-based company has acquired a 707K SF distribution facility in Richmond, its fifth East Bay buy in 12 months. Sold by LDK Ventures and fully leased to Amazon, its newest property, 2995 Atlas Road, follows a two-year run that has led to CenterPoint owning 20 Bay Area properties, most of which are in the East Bay.
"This building is really the culmination of the last 24 months of work we’ve done in this market," CenterPoint Vice President of Investments Greg Pearson said.
CenterPoint declined to disclose pricing details, which have also yet to appear in property records as of press time.
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CenterPoint's buying spree is part of a confluence of national factors that have boosted the industrial sector's e-commerce-led strength, and also local ones, like the Port of Oakland and the East Bay's growing population, Pearson said.
Up until last year's China/U.S. tariffs and the coronavirus pandemic, the port had seen consecutive years of record cargo in 2017 and 2018. It is now investing in new infrastructure, like a seaport logistics facility and large cranes, that bodes well for the local sector, Bisnow reported last month. Since the end of 2018, average triple-net asking rents in the East Bay have risen over 10%, according to Colliers International.
The result is an East Bay market, bolstered by Amazon's Bay Area activity, that is in high demand from Richmond down to Hayward, according to Townsend Commercial Real Estate Vice President Andy Hsu, an investment and leasing broker specializing in industrial properties along the I-880 corridor.
“Across the 880 corridor, there’s been hardly any warehouses that are for sale on the market right now," Hsu said. "All the other sales you’re seeing are happening off-market, and institutional developers like CenterPoint are actively in the game."
Another East Bay buy by CenterPoint this year, its purchase of 950 Whipple Road in Union City, was off-market, as was its January acquisition of 2376 Davis Ave. in Hayward, a 132.7K SF last-mile facility.
"In the East Bay, we're net buyers," Pearson said. "We have no plans of selling any piece of the portfolio and are voraciously looking to expand it."
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