Newcastle Partners Acquires 25 Acres of Land For Spec Industrial in Riverside, CA; Acquisition Adds to Growing Inland Empire Portfolio

Meridian Industrial Park, Riverside, CA

Phil Lombardo

                  SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Newcastle Partners, Inc., a San Francisco-based real estate investment and development company, has acquired 25.74 acres of land, located at Opportunity Way and Meridian Parkway in Meridian Industrial Park in Riverside, Calif., for new speculative development.

The firm will start construction mid-2014 on a 510,000-square-foot Class A distribution building. The new construction will be the second phase of Newcastle’s Meridian Distribution Center.

The firm completed construction at the end of 2013 of a 600,000-square-foot Class A distribution building located at 14600 Innovation Drive in the Meridian Industrial Park, a 1,290-acre master-planned commerce center featuring office, retail, industrial, and research and development space.

Newcastle’s facility will be situated at 22200 Opportunity Way, one block south of the Innovation Way development, offering excellent visibility and access to Interstate 215 providing strategic proximity to the greater Southern California region and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Building features include: 32' clear height, ESFR sprinkler system, and up to 360' truck courts.

Chuck Belden

“It makes sense for us to continue to invest in this market and deliver state-of-the-art industrial developments.

" There is a great deal of pent up demand among users due to the recovering economy. Now that things are improving, we’re seeing much more interest in expansion, especially into well-located buildings in the Inland Empire,” said Dennis Higgs, Newcastle Partners’ Managing Partner and Founder

Phil Lombardo, Executive Vice President, Cushman & Wakefield, shared that the firm tracked new leasing activity in the Inland Empire at the end of 2013 at 30.5 million square feet, the second highest level since Cushman & Wakefield began tracking industrial stats. Only 2005 produced more leasing activity.

Lombardo also noted that strong activity in large build-to-suits were a major reason for the increase in leasing. Lombardo and Chuck Belden are the leasing agents for Meridian Distribution Center I and II.

“It’s important to add that a great deal of the tenants are also consolidating their facilities into bigger buildings located here. This market can provide the location, new facilities and an aggressive price that makes sense for their operations,” Lombardo said.

Jackson Smith, who heads Southern California operations for Newcastle Partners, said that another benefit to being in Meridian is the ability to provide users with a secure building amongst other high profile companies within a master planned industrial park environment that better reflects their corporate image.

Founded in 1999, Newcastle Partners, Inc. is a real estate investor and developer focused on industrial, office and business park properties in California. Newcastle Partners has offices in Irvine and San Francisco, California, and currently owns or has recently developed more than $728 million of properties.

For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Darcie Giacchetto

Spaulding Thompson & Associates

949.278.6224

www.newcastlepartners.com.