Inland Empire footprint expands
The Inland Empire is extending as a cheaper warehousing and manufacturing hub into Apple Valley and Palmdale, marking deeper inland migration for logistics users. That geographic shift broadens sourcing for space but increases haul‑time tradeoffs for last‑mile deliveries. (x.com)
The Town of Apple Valley’s Inland Empire North Logistics Center cleared CEQA for two buildings totaling about 2,604,446 square feet on roughly 177.74 acres—Building 1 at ~1,507,326 SF and Building 2 at ~1,097,120 SF. (ceqanet.lci.ca.gov (ceqanet.lci.ca.gov)) ARCO broke ground on a $96 million, 1,207,135‑SF build‑to‑suit logistics facility in Apple Valley for 3PL Lecangs, featuring 40‑foot clear heights, more than 200 dock doors and planned solar plus battery storage. (connectcre.com (connectcre.com)) Uncommon Developers completed entitlement for a 1,000,000‑SF Apple Valley distribution center — the first phase of a 550‑acre master‑planned industrial development in the market. (commercialsearch.com (commercialsearch.com)) The City of Palmdale reports more than 13 million square feet of industrial space in development and highlights proximity to existing distribution hubs for Amazon, Trader Joe’s, Rite Aid, Michaels and Sygma. (cityofpalmdaleca.gov (cityofpalmdaleca.gov)) CBRE’s Q4 2025 figures show Inland Empire core taking lease rates at about $1.03 NNN per SF per month (IE East ~$0.93; IE West ~$1.12), versus Greater Los Angeles average asking rents running roughly $1.22–$1.30 NNN per SF per month. (mediaassets.cbre.com (mediaassets.cbre.com)) (cbre.com (cbre.com)) Vacancy and availability have widened as developers deliver big blocks—Cushman reported Inland Empire vacancy at 8.1% in Q4 2025, and Colliers recorded 4.4M SF of new supply in Q3 2025 that pushed availability to a 14‑year high of 11.2%. (avisonyoung.us (avisonyoung.us)) (colliers.com (colliers.com)) Geography increases last‑mile haul time: Apple Valley is roughly 90 miles (about 1 hr 45 min drive) to downtown Los Angeles, while Palmdale is roughly 60–70 miles (about 1–1.25 hr drive), translating to materially longer one‑way trips for LA‑metro deliveries. (distance-cities.com (distance-cities.com)) (check-distance.com (check-distance.com)) Market momentum favors tenants negotiating large blocks and flexible terms—Q2–Q3 2025 saw multiple big build‑to‑suit starts (including a 2.6M‑SF e‑commerce project in Hesperia and the Apple Valley 1.2M‑SF Lecangs build‑to‑suit), while sublease inventory and listed asking rates have softened, providing leverage on TI, free‑rent and renewal language. (credaily.com (credaily.com)) ( (credaily.com))
