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Duke Realty Sees Solid Demand, Leases Building in Redlands

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Duke Realty Corp. recently signed a long-term lease for a 1.1 million-square-foot logistics building, presently under construction in the Inland Empire East sub-market of Southern California. This leasing for a building that started as a speculative development reflects a solid demand for the company’s logistics properties in the region.

Being constructed on a 54.7-acre site, this building at 9180 Alabama Street in Redlands enjoys locational advantage. It is on the southeast corner of the Alabama Street and Palmetto Avenue, with access to I-210, I-10 and other major highways and interstates as well as proximity to the San Bernardino International Airport. The development is scheduled to be delivered in April 2021.

The Southern California market holds prospects for industrial landlords and therefore, Duke Realty is focused on investing in the region. The REIT presently has more than 13.6 million square feet of space in 31 buildings in the Southern California portfolio. Many of its properties cater to tenants’ requirement for large blocks of modern distribution spaces.

Apart from witnessing robust demand for the Southern California properties, Duke Realty has been seeing robust demand and steady rental collections across its portfolio.The company has collected 99.2% of the original contractual August rents, with combined collections and deferrals aggregating 99.6% as of Aug 20, 2020. Moreover, as of the same date, it collected 97.3% of the original contractual July rents, with combined collections and deferrals totaling 99.9%.

Amid an e-commerce boom and supply-chain strategy transformations, demand for logistics infrastructure and efficient distribution networks has been increasing steadily in recent years. In addition, with the coronavirus pandemic and social-distancing practices, there is a significant surge in online purchase, fueling demand for logistic properties.

Furthermore, apart from the fast adoption of e-retail, the industrial real estate space is anticipated to benefit over the long run from a likely increase in inventory levels. This is because, in response to the pandemic along with trade disruptions, there is a sound possibility of a shift from a lean supply-chain strategy to a more resilient one. As such, industrial REITs like Duke Realty, Prologis, Inc. (PLD - Free Report) , Terreno Realty Corp. (TRNO - Free Report) and Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. (REXR - Free Report) have scope to prosper.

Therefore, Duke Realty’s capacity to bank on this favorable trend is likely to help the company witness active leasing and healthy rent levels across its properties in the upcoming period. However, the pandemic’s adverse impact on economy and a development boom in some markets are concerns.

Shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have appreciated 19% over the past year, while its industry has declined 6.2%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

 

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