NGKF Facilitates Goodwill’s Move to Tustin

By Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

Goodwill of Orange County will be moving its retail distribution center to a newly leased 154,040-square-foot warehouse building at 1231 Warner Ave. in Tustin.

1231 Warner Ave. in Tustin, Calif.

Justin Hodgdon and Wes Hunnicutt, senior managing directors at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank’s Newport Beach, Calif. office represented the company on the lease transaction.

According to the CoStar Group, the eight-year deal commences in October 2015 and is valued at more than $10 million. The single-story, light manufacturing building received multiple offers, ultimately leasing higher than the $0.69 per square foot, triple-net asking rate. Kevin Turner and Rick Ellison of Cushman & Wakefield Inc. represented the landlord.

The two-story facility will replace and more than quadruple the size of Goodwill’s existing 30,000-square-foot processing and dock space in Santa Ana. The addition of warehouse space will allow the company to house and sort a significantly larger amount of donation inventory.

At Goodwill’s current distribution center, which has reached full capacity, donated goods are processed and sent out to stores the day they are received, regardless of season or type of merchandise. The larger space will allow for efficient staging of items to maximize the donation value by providing stores with in-season, best-selling goods, as well as refined control over the amount of goods sent to each retail store. Goodwill has metrics that inform them about what items are most popular at what store.

The transition to the new centralized distribution warehouse is therefore expected to improve seasonal clothing availability at the company’s 22 retail stores and decrease transportation costs, since fewer trips to the retail stores will be required as a result of proper staging of items.

Furthermore, the larger distribution center will enable the organization to add new stores to its directory. Besides warehouse space, the Tustin location will also include offices for Goodwill of Orange County’s programs and services that help individuals facing barriers to employment in the community, including a new physical space for its veterans program, The Goodwill Tierney Center for Veteran Services.

“The move to a larger distribution center will enable and empower our venerable, 91-year-old organization to enjoy continued, critical growth well into the future,” said Frank Talarico, Jr., president & CEO, Goodwill of Orange County. “Our successes in retail operations, with this lease a key component to that success, translates into serving more people facing barriers to employment, including adults with disabilities and veterans.”

“Once we analyzed the needs of the organization to fulfill its strategic plan to expand its Orange County services throughout the county, we were able to identify the Warner building as an ideal solution,” Hodgdon added. “Interior construction is underway and Goodwill plans to be fully operational in the new space by the end of the year.”

Image via loopnet.com