Bridge Logistics Buys Inland Empire Portfolio for $84M
The deal comes at a time of market uncertainty for the region.
Bridge Logistics Properties has acquired a three-building industrial portfolio in Fontana, Calif., in the Inland Empire, for $83.5 million. Property records indicate that Hillwood sold the recently developed buildings, which total 332,793 square feet.
The portfolio consists of three distribution facilities: 14074 Rancho Court (100,039 square feet), 14019 Rose Ave. (57,654 square feet) and 14928 Washington Drive (175,100 square feet). Each building features 32-foot clear heights, secured all-concrete truck courts, dock-high and grade-level loading, ESFR sprinkler systems and LED lighting.
The properties, which were completed in 2023, are all fully leased and offer a weighted average lease term of over two years, according to Bridge Logistics. Thus, the portfolio will be able to deliver stabilized cash flow during a period of macro-economic and policy-driven uncertainty, the company noted.
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Bridge Logistics is a subsidiary of Bridge Group, an alternative investment manager with about $49 billion of assets under management as of the first quarter of 2025.
Mixed indicators for the Inland Empire
The Inland Empire industrial market, which is intimately connected to the LA and Long Beach industrial markets and port operations, turned in mixed indicators in the second quarter of 2025, with a modest increase in vacancy, negative net absorption in the core Inland Empire (IE East and IE West together), and declining lease rates, according to CBRE. Even so, leasing activity is relatively healthy and there has been a notable uptick in build-to-suit projects breaking ground.
The IE Core vacancy rate increased to 6.7 percent in the second quarter of 2025, up from 6.6 percent quarter-over-quarter, CBRE reported. Total negative net absorption for the IE Core came in at 740,000 square feet for the quarter.
Industrial development in the Inland Empire picked up in in the second quarter of 2025 as 5.5 million square feet broke ground across the entire Inland Empire, CBRE noted. The uptick largely consisted of three new build-to-suit projects that accounted for 4.5 million square feet of the new starts.
Inland Empire’s new barriers to entry
New industrial development in the Inland Empire is facing a number of stiff challenges. Local municipal headwinds, AB 98, and general land scarcity are causing significant barriers to new development, Bridge Logistics Managing Director Paul Jones noted in a statement. Once economic conditions stabilize and tenant demand normalizes, existing assets will likely appreciate in value, he added.
AB 98 is the California law inked by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year that tightens building standards and restricts diesel truck routes in neighborhoods, with the probable impact of slowing industrial development further in the Inland Empire.
The region already is home to more than 4,000 warehouses over nearly 40 square miles. The stated goal of the law is to control the air pollution, noise and traffic associated with massive industrial markets.
“Warehouse operators will likely face increased costs because of the infrastructure and equipment requirements, including the need for detailed truck routing plans and separate truck entrances,” Holland & Knight said in a report on AB 98. “Additionally, the location constraints imposed by the buffer zones could limit the availability of suitable land for new developments, potentially slowing the approval and construction processes.”
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