Birtcher Development LLC acquires $17.6M, 20-acre site adjacent to San Bernardino Airport

Birtcher Development LLC, an industrial real estate developer with five generations of family ownership, announced Monday, Jan. 20, the acquisition of a 20-acre land parcel fully entitled for the development of a spec 406,710-square-foot regional fulfillment and distribution center. Birtcher Development purchased the asset from 6^th Street LLC for $17.6 million. It anticipates breaking ground on the project in spring 2020, and construction is slated for completion in Q4 2020.

The industrial project is three blocks away from the San Bernardino Airport and is accessible to Interstates 10 and 215, key transportation routes throughout the Inland Empire and across the country. With record-low vacancy rates – currently 3% in the Inland Empire as of Q3 2019 – this project is designed to satisfy the high demand for new and advanced high cube industrial warehouse space in the submarket.

“Given the logistics opportunities presented by the airport, convenient access to major trucking thoroughfares and excellent labor market, the demand for new, modern industrial space in the San Bernardino Airport submarket is incredibly high,” said Brooke Birtcher Gustafson, Birtcher Development LLC’s Managing Director. “Once delivered, standing at 40-clear height, this state-of-the-art facility will bring much needed high cube product to market during a time when the e-commerce boom is driving unprecedented industrial demand.”

The new rear-loaded warehouse facility will feature an 8-inch slab and 40-foot clear heights, resulting in 16-20% more pallet positions than the typical 36-foot warehouse. It will also include 65 dock high doors plus an additional 167 designated trailer stalls in a secured concrete truck yard; 259 auto parking spaces and two grade-level loading doors. Power for the site includes 4,000 AMP service (2,000 AMPs installed), 2.5% parabolic skylights and 100,000 kW/h/year of solar power that will be ready for tenant use.

“This is one of the fastest executed deals our company has ever done,” said Brian Barre, spokesperson for the seller. “The short due diligence process, quick close and seamless execution made it a pleasure to work with Birtcher Development LLC.”

The project architect is HPA Architecture of Irvine. Eloy Covarrubias, Joe Werdein and Jeff Fritch of CBRE are representing Birtcher in securing a tenant for the facility.

Darla Longo, Barbara Perrier, Rebecca Perlmutter, Brett Hartzell, Eric Cox, Eloy Covarrubias, Jeff Fritch and Joe Werdein of CBRE served as brokers on the acquisition.