Three huge LA leases
Three large Q1 leases show occupiers are still transacting in the LA market: Apex Logistics inked a 442,550 sq ft deal in the South Bay, SpeedX took about 327,000 sq ft in Commerce/Vernon, and NX Lifestyle Logistics leased roughly 200,000 sq ft in the South Bay. Those transactions provide current comps and suggest deal activity persists even as headline rents soften. (x.com 1) (x.com 2) (x.com 3)
Los Angeles industrial landlords just got three fresh proof points that tenants are still willing to sign very large checks for space, even after the market cooled from its pandemic peak. Apex Logistics took 442,550 square feet in the South Bay, SpeedX leased 326,517 square feet in Commerce/Vernon, and NX Lifestyle Logistics signed for 199,927 square feet in the South Bay. (theregistrysocal.com 1) (theregistrysocal.com 2) (theregistrysocal.com 3) The biggest of the three was Apex Logistics, and The Registry called it the largest lease signed in the Los Angeles market in the first quarter of 2026. That matters in a market where many owners spent 2024 and 2025 adjusting to slower demand and more empty buildings. (theregistrysocal.com) (savills.us) The geography tells the story. South Bay and Commerce/Vernon sit close to the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the two gateways that feed imported goods into Southern California warehouses before those goods move to stores, parcel hubs, or consumers’ doorsteps. (linklogistics.com) (theregistrysocal.com) That is why a last-mile delivery company like SpeedX shows up in Commerce/Vernon instead of farther inland. Last-mile means the final leg from warehouse to customer, and being closer to dense neighborhoods in Los Angeles can cut delivery time the way a kitchen near the dining room cuts the walk for every plate. (theregistrysocal.com) NX Lifestyle Logistics is a subsidiary of Nippon Express, a global freight and logistics company, so its nearly 200,000-square-foot South Bay lease fits the same pattern: import-heavy businesses still want infill buildings near ports, freeways, and labor. In Los Angeles industrial real estate, “infill” usually means hard-to-replace sites inside the built-out urban core, where new warehouse supply is limited. (theregistrysocal.com) (linklogistics.com) The market backdrop is softer than the deal headlines make it look. Savills said Los Angeles industrial posted 632,511 square feet of negative net absorption in the first quarter of 2026 and vacancy rose 20 basis points from the prior quarter to 7.3 percent. (savills.us) (theregistrysocal.com) Rents have come down too. Klein Commercial said average asking rents in Greater Los Angeles large-format industrial have fallen about 31 percent from their 2022 to 2023 peak, landing in a range of roughly $0.99 to $2.30 per square foot per month on a triple-net basis in March 2026. (kleincom.com) But the weakness is not uniform across every pocket of Los Angeles. Colliers said South Bay vacancy fell to 5.0 percent in the first quarter of 2026, while net absorption jumped to 1,429,988 square feet and gross activity reached 4.7 million square feet, which it described as the highest quarterly leasing volume in South Bay history. (colliers.com) So these three leases are less a sign that Los Angeles industrial is booming again than a sign that the market is splitting in two. Commodity space in weaker submarkets is still repricing, while big occupiers with real distribution needs are still competing for the best buildings near the port complex and the city’s consumer base. (savills.us) (colliers.com) (linklogistics.com) For brokers, lenders, and landlords, the immediate value of these deals is that they create current comparables in a market that has been searching for a new pricing floor. For tenants, they show that if you need 200,000 to 400,000 square feet in the right Los Angeles location, the window to negotiate may be better than it was in 2022, but the best boxes are still getting taken. (theregistrysocal.com 1) (theregistrysocal.com 2) (theregistrysocal.com 3)
