Orange County Industrial Sale Proves Importance of Location and Building Size

An industrial property buy recently struck by one that's identified as a global retailer and e-commerce wholesaler explains why location is key — with the size of a building also playing an important factor.

Located inside California's Santa Ana region, DAUM Commercial Real Estate Services completed a 29,932-square-foot sale of a freestanding building for $8.59 million. This comes out to $286 per square foot.

For DUAM, Executive Vice President Mike Barreiro, SIOR, Executive Vice President Devin Ray and Associate Zack Homsy of the firm's Orange County office represented the seller and procured the buyer.

Also joining the efforts on the transaction for the CRE services firm were Executive Vice President David Freitag, Associate Ben Andrews and Associate Sam Andrews of DUAM's Los Angeles office.

"For a company serving collectors and customers around the world, the location was a strong fit for its e-commerce and distribution operations," Barreiro told GlobeSt.com.

The property is just two miles from the 405 Freeway and less than four miles from the 55 Freeway, with John Wayne Airport and the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles also within easy reach of transit and employee base.

"It is rare to find a nearly 30,000-square-foot freestanding building on 1.67 acres in central Orange County that has the DH, GL loading, ample warehouse clear height, heavy power and an oversized yard.

"That combination gave the buyer both the location and the functionality it was looking for in a new headquarters," Barreiro said.

In a release, Barreiro added, "Today, some of the best industrial property opportunities come down to relationships and knowing which owners are open to a conversation before a building ever hits the market."

In A Market With Booming Sales and Higher Vacancy

The deal takes place in a market that's been booming with transactions—though some of the fundamentals leave more to be desired. According to a recent DAUM market report, Orange County's industrial market recorded $932 million in sales volume during the second quarter, a 158.3% increase from the first three months of the year. That brings first-half 2026 sales volume to $1.29 billion, up 36.8% year-over-year.

Meanwhile, at the same time time, overall industrial vacancy increased slightly to 6.53%, with the Airport submarket posting a direct vacancy of just 4.86%. Savills' Orange County industrial report shows that the vacancy rate increased by 70 basis points (bps) in the second quarter to 8.9%. There was 178,155 square feet of positive absorption in the market.

For construction, 794,640 square feet is currently underway, with 260,899 sf delivered in Q2. Industrial inventory continues to grow through office-to-industrial conversions, including 1 & 3 Banting in Irvine Spectrum.

Asking rents continue to decline, falling to $1.35 per square foot, down 4.9% from the previous quarter and 8.2% year-over-year.