Ares' Q1 industrial jump

Ares Real Estate Income Trust said its industrial leases posted 45.2% rent growth in the first quarter of 2026, even as parts of Southern California’s warehouse market kept cooling. (altswire.com) The nontraded real estate investment trust raised $401.2 million in gross proceeds in the quarter and ended March with aggregate net asset value of $3.39 billion. Its net asset value per share rose to $8.1467 from $8.12 a month earlier. (altswire.com) Ares said the portfolio held 144 properties totaling about 30.5 million square feet across 34 U.S. markets as of March 31, 2026. Occupancy was 94.8%, and the trust said industrial rents in place still sat 20.6% below market, leaving room for higher re-leasing spreads as older leases roll. (altswire.com) The result stands out because industrial rent growth has slowed nationally after the sharp run-up from 2021 through 2023. CoStar said annual asking rent change for U.S. industrial leases larger than 50,000 square feet had turned negative 2.7% by the first quarter of 2026. (businesswire.com) Southern California shows that split in real time. Colliers said Greater Los Angeles industrial net absorption was negative 2.4 million square feet in the first quarter, vacancy rose to 5.9%, and average asking rent fell for the eleventh straight quarter to $1.20 triple-net. (colliers.com) CBRE described the Los Angeles industrial market as still being in a “correction cycle” in the first quarter of 2026, though it said there were early signs of stabilization. Kidder Mathews separately reported direct vacancy at 5.9% while lease rates and sale prices “continued to stabilize” in Los Angeles. (cbre.com) (kidder.com) Ares Real Estate Income Trust is a diversified net-asset-value real estate investment trust, not a pure industrial vehicle. On its website, Ares says the trust’s broader portfolio spans multiple property types, with total asset value of $8.7 billion and 144 properties as of February 28, 2026. (areswms.com) That mix showed up in the quarter’s other numbers. Ares reported residential new and renewal rents fell 1.7%, bought a self-storage property for $11.2 million, and fully met $40.2 million of redemption requests during the quarter. (altswire.com) The quarter also got a boost from Delaware statutory trust conversions, with 22.6 million operating partnership units issued for a net investment of $183.2 million in March. That helped lift aggregate net asset value more than the per-share increase alone would suggest. (altswire.com) For now, Ares’ first-quarter update points to a market where rent growth depends less on the national headline and more on the exact buildings, lease vintages, and submarkets a landlord owns. In Ares’ case, the industrial slice is still producing outsized spreads. (altswire.com)