Lee & Associates Brokers $10.7 Million Purchase of Industrial Facility

Buyer Cels Enterprises will use the Inland Empire facility as its national distribution center

ONTARIO, Calif.—July 13, 2010—Lee & Associates, the largest broker-owned commercial real estate firm in the country, negotiated a $10.7 million purchase of a 264,717-square-foot industrial facility at 1251 Rockefeller Ave. in Ontario.

Jeff Smith and John Seoane of Lee & Associates’ Ontario office represented the buyer, Cels Enterprises Inc., a Los Angeles-based shoe sales and manufacturing company that moved in at the close of escrow in June. The property, California Commerce Center Business Park, was owned by Arrow Electronics.

According to Smith, Cels Enterprises intends to use the 23-year-old industrial facility as its national distribution center.

Cels, which was founded in 1971 and manufactures and sells woman's footwear, conducts a large portion of its business with the Pacific Rim, making the location and size of the property ideal in its business plan.

“Like most buyers, particularly in this cycle, Cels’s decision to obtain the property was very much value-driven,” said Smith. “Additionally, the property not only met their physical and operational requirements, but also offered potential value with its foreign trade zone.”

Aside from the transaction, Smith noted that the deal might be a sign of a thaw in the marketplace.

“This building marks the low point for user sales of large facility space in the market’s west end,” said Smith. “Activity, in general, seems to be moving in a positive direction in this area with expectation for price stability at a minimum with the probability of growth in size-specific subcategories.”

Arrow Electronics was represented by CB Richard Ellis’ Ontario and New York offices.

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