City of Industry-based Classic Distributing & Beverage Group Inc. has purchased a 140,000-square-foot warehouse in Corona for roughly $30 million. The distribution company previously leased 80,000 square feet at the property, located at 451 Cota St.
 
It acquired the asset from San Francisco-based Prologis Inc. 

Downtown-based Realty Advisory Group Inc. represented Classic Distributing & Beverage Group in the transaction. Prologis was self-represented.
 
John Repstad, Realty Advisory Group’s senior director, said it was a unique transaction because “Prologis typically never sells.”

He said Prologis had acquired the property in a portfolio sale but did not consider it a core holding.

Repstad said Classic Distributing & Beverage Group prefers to own rather than lease its real estate because of the high value of industrial land. It was interested in this particular property, he said, because it’s located near its accounts. The building also has high clearances and multiple loading docks.

A separate tenant occupying 60,000 square feet of the building has four years remaining on its lease. Repstad said Classic Distributing & Beverage Group would work to either vacate the tenant or wait until the lease ends, then take over the space.

Repstad said Classic Distributing & Beverage Group saw the purchase of the Corona building as a good opportunity to expand its business.
 
The distribution company is headquartered at a 250,000-square-foot property in the City of Industry. That property, Repstad said, has already increased significantly in value since the company purchased it in 2004.

“They see the appreciation they can get and see that they are better off owning since they spend a lot on improvements,” Repstad said. “They’ve always been owners. They’ve seen over the years that it’s better to own than to lease.”