Major events in Los Angeles County commercial and industrial submarkets in the third quarter.

They say those who exercise regularly often recover from surgery faster than those who don’t. So think of the San Gabriel Valley’s industrial market as fit … and the real estate downturn as the dreaded operation.

For the third quarter in a row, the area’s historically tight industrial market saw a slight dip in vacancies, ending the July-September period with 3.7 percent of its product empty, according to Grubb & Ellis Co. Perhaps more notably, it’s also the only industrial submarket in the county boasting lower vacancies today than a year ago.

“Being the infill market that it is, the San Gabriel Valley was never really struck as bad as the surrounding markets,” said Dennis Kane of Lee & Associates. “It held pretty strong and that’s why it’s one of the first areas coming back.”

The market absorbed another 314,605 industrial square feet last quarter, bringing its year-to-date net absorption to 1.35 million feet, a welcome change from 2009, when the area had given back nearly 2.4 million square feet at this point in the year.

“San Gabriel Valley has the diversification of import, export, assembly, and manufacturing and we’re still buoyed by Asian companies,” said Jim Center of Grubb & Ellis. “That diversification has always historically helped.”

Asking rents rose 1 cent to 43 cents per square foot, though most new leases getting signed these days include one free month of rent per year, according to Center.

One piece of bad news came in the form of sale and lease activity, which fell by about half during the third quarter to 995,506 square feet, a sign that the market still has a way to go.

Industrial Market At a Glance

Inventory: 180 million square feet

Under Construction: 0

Asking Rents: 43 cents

MAIN EVENTS

• SNW Railroad Partners purchased a 124,400-square-foot industrial building at 13155 E. Railroad Ave. in City of Industry for just above $8 million, or about $65 per square foot. 13155 Railroad Partners sold the property.
• Walnut-based real estate investment firm Catesgarb Holdings Inc. sold a 53,918-square-foot industrial building in City of Industry. Zoe Beverage Co. purchased the property at 19907 E. Walnut Drive for $5.66 million, or about $105 per square foot. Zoe plans to occupy one 16,588-square-foot unit; the remaining space is taken by networking and computer cable maker Manufacture Resource Products.
• The David W. & Julianne Armstrong Living Trust bought a Pomona office and industrial property for $2.47 million from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The 49,445-square-foot development, at 301-399 N. Garey Ave., includes buildings previously used as a bank branch and warehouse and storage space. About 20 percent of the building is occupied by one tenant, while the remainder is vacant.
• Power systems manufacturer Falcon Electric Inc. has moved into a new 13,000-square-foot facility at 5116 Azusa Canyon Road in Irwindale. The company’s headquarters were previously at another building in the same industrial park.
• Raiden Technology Inc., a seller of remote-controlled toys and hobby products, leased an entire 108,000-square foot building at 321 Vineland Ave. in City of Industry for 48 months from landlord Maxim Lighting. Raiden moved out of a 30,000-square-foot space, also in Industry.