US Elogistics Service Corp., a China-based ecommerce company, has signed a roughly 232,000-square-foot industrial lease in Vernon.

It is the largest industrial lease in central L.A. this year, based on square footage.

Financial terms were not disclosed for the lease at the Prologis Vernon Business Center at 5215 S. Boyle Ave.

US Elogistics Service will use the space as a fulfillment center.

Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.’s Joe Dimola represented US Elogistics Service in the lease. Newmark Knight Frank’s John McMillan represented Prologis Inc., the landlord.

“They were interested in being in the infill L.A. area due to proximity to the ports of L.A. and Long Beach and some other key distribution hubs in the area,” Dimola said.

US Elogistics Service is a “growing company,” he added, and JLL was working with the ecommerce entity “on new facilities throughout the U.S. in all the key hubs (and) all the areas near the major ports.”

“They liked this building (in Vernon) because it was a premiere industrial space. Top of the line, state of the art, new construction.”

The building’s plethora of dock-high loading docks and high clearance height made it ideal, he added.

Dimola said US Elogistics Service is a Prologis tenant on the East Coast, so “it was an efficient transaction to have the same landlord in Vernon.”

Only 1.1 million square feet of industrial space sold or leased in central L.A. in the second quarter, compared with 1.8 million square feet the quarter before, according to data from JLL.

Asking rental rates remained strong, though, at $1.03 on a triple-net basis, up 3 cents over the previous quarter and 21 cents over the previous year.

“Vernon is uniquely situated to welcome large, medium and small businesses seeking an industrial or light industrial setting for their core business or major business expansion,” Vernon City Administrator Carlos Fandino said in a statement.

Ecommerce is a key factor driving demand for industrial space. Prior to Covid-19, 35% of JLL’s industrial leases were for ecommerce, but now 50% are related to ecommerce.

The brokerage expects ecommerce to grow 20% this year alone.

Dimola said ecommerce would continue “to be the true driver of industrial real estate leasing in L.A. and throughout the country.”

“It saw an uptick in business due to Covid. These are all things that were happening but Covid solidified that ecommerce is the future,” he added.

And Dimola expects to see more ecommerce leases in L.A. this year “especially in the infill markets where these businesses are close to the larger population for last mile delivery, close to the ports of L.A. and Long Beach, and we expect Class A industrial product to be the most robust of the different classes of industrial buildings.”

New facilities with high ceiling height and lots of loading areas will be in the highest demand, experts say.