A seven-year lease valued at more than $23 million was signed last month for 411,000 square feet of distribution space in Santa Fe Springs – a deal that’s certain to make a dent in the city’s fourth quarter industrial vacancy rate.

The lease at 9400 Santa Fe Springs Road by Hartford, Conn.-based landlord Cornerstorne Real Estate Advisors was likely the largest industrial lease in Los Angeles or Orange counties last year, said Clyde Stauff, an executive vice president at the Irvine office of Colliers International, which represented the landlord.

Stauff refused to name the tenant, but New Breed Logistics, a High Point, N.C. -based national distribution and supply chain management company, confirmed it is moving into the space. New Breed otherwise declined comment.

The 608,500-square-foot warehouse, formerly occupied by a clothing retailer that moved, was vacant for only about eight months – a fast turnaround for a building this size, which typically remain vacant for about a year, Stauff said.

He attributed the speed of the deal to a lack of supply of large warehouses and a broader resurgence of industrial activity in high-quality county infill locations.

“I think it was an indication that, if I had to say it, that there is increasing demand for warehouse space in the last quarter of 2010 and at least the first month of 2011,” Stauff said. “People are actively looking in these large sizes, contrasted to 2009 when almost no one was looking.”

The remaining nearly 200,000 square feet of space is vacant.

Tech Growth

Interactive marketing and gaming company Cie Studios is enlarging its headquarters space at the Landmark Square building in Long Beach.

The company is expanding from 13,201 square feet to 19,010 square feet, occupying the entire 18th floor at the 111 W. Ocean Blvd. building. The company has 72 employees in Long Beach and plans to hire more as its gaming subsidiary, Cie Games, has scored a huge hit on Facebook with “Car Town.”The game debuted in July and has 7.5 million active users who collect and customize cybercars.

Last week, Toyota Motor Corp. made an advertising buy to feature its Prius in the game, said Cie Studios President Edward Yu.

“Even in a down economy, what we’ve managed to do is capitalize on Facebook, social media and gaming,” Yu said.

The company looked at moving to a South Bay beach city or further north, but ultimately decided to stay put, he said. The company received concessions and tenant improvement funds, including one year of free rent in its expansion space. The lease price was not disclosed.

The expansion space, formerly occupied by an advertising company, should be ready before March 1. The new lease will end in September 2016.

Cie Studios’ broker, Jason Fine, a vice president with Jones Lang LaSalle, said he’s seen many companies relocate or consider offices south of Los Angeles.

“Long Beach is attracting more and more of the technology, advertising and marketing firms and e-commerce related firms,” he said. “I think Long Beach offers some cool, creative beachside space – at a price point that’s attractive.”

Landlord Brookfield Office Properties was represented in-house by Toliver Morris and John Barganski. Cie also was represented by Tony Morales and Tom Turley of Jones Lang LaSalle.

Downtown Move

Downtown L.A. commercial real estate broker Mark Tarczynski and a partner have left West L.A.-based CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., the nation’s largest commercial real estate services firm.

Tarczynski, 55, a veteran broker, and junior partner Adam Tischer on Jan. 4 joined Colliers International, where they will continue to work downtown.

Tarczynski said that after 23 years at CB Richard Ellis, where he started in the brokerage business in 1988, it was time for a change. He especially wanted to work at a smaller place where he would have more freedom to operate.

“Speed of service and quality of service execution for my clients was my main concern,” he said. “I didn’t move for compensatory reasons; it was more for new challenges and to provide better service for my clients.”

Tarczynski, who was a senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis, will be an executive vice president at Colliers. Tischer, 29, who has been his partner for six years, will be a vice president.

Colliers, which has its downtown offices at 865 S. Figueroa St., was the eighteenth largest commercial brokerage in Los Angeles County as ranked by sales and leases, according to the Business Journal’s annual list published in September.

CB Richard Ellis, which was No. 1, declined comment.

Staff reporter Max Zimbert can be reached at [email protected] or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 263.