Newport Beach investor Alere Property Group bought the 17.5-acre Cerritos West Industrial Park late last month, banking on its ability to take advantage of a tight industrial market by raising rents.

CBRE Global Investors sold the seven-building complex for $43.9 million, or $111 a square foot. The buildings at the property, bounded by 166th Street, Carmenita Road and Manning Way, range in size from 13,000 square feet to 34,000 square feet.

Barbara Emmons, the vice chairwoman at CBRE Group Inc. who represented both parties in the deal, said access to six major freeways, a submarket vacancy rate of 2.5 percent and the park’s 100 percent occupancy all fed the deal – as well as Alere’s confidence that there is plenty of upside.

“More of their strategy (on this deal) is to push the rental rates on the buildings,” she said. “When the vacancy is so low, you can push rental rates.”

CBRE analysts have predicted rental rates in the Mid-Cities submarket will grow 6.2 percent in 2015, Emmons said, because small businesses, which usually occupy business parks, have been rebounding as the economy improves and investors see them as able to withstand rent increases.

The Cerritos West buildings were built between 1977 and 1978 and renovated within the past five years. Each features parking, and dock-high and grade-level doors. The area’s major airports are between 16 and 40 miles away and the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are 20 miles away.

“It’s more of a seller’s market right now and very competitive for buyers,” Emmons said.