CIP Real Estate Acquires Walnut Tech Business Center for $60.65M in San Gabriel Valley Deal
CIP Real Estate has acquired Walnut Tech Business Center, a 200,049-square-foot multi-use industrial complex in Walnut, California, for $60.65 million, the Irvine-based firm announced. The transaction, which closed in September 2026, adds an 11-building shallow-bay asset in the supply-constrained San Gabriel Valley submarket to CIP's growing industrial portfolio.
Property and Deal Details
Located at 20265 E. Valley Blvd. at the intersection of Valley Boulevard and South Lemon Avenue, Walnut Tech Business Center comprises 109 individual industrial, flex office and service commercial suites. Suite sizes range from approximately 640 to 8,400 square feet across the 11-building complex. The property was 92% leased at the time of closing and sits approximately one mile from the 60 Freeway, providing direct access to the City of Industry market area.
The acquisition price equates to approximately $303 per square foot. CIP Real Estate represented itself in the transaction. The seller, an affiliate of AEW, was represented by the JLL West Coast Capital Markets team of Patrick Nally, Evan Moran and Chad Solomon. Financing was provided by City National Bank, with JLL's Southern California debt team arranging the loan.
CIP plans to launch a $3.5 million capital improvement program in 2026 to upgrade exterior and interior finishes across the property — representing roughly $17.50 per square foot of planned investment. The property is already at 92% occupancy, positioning the capital program as an effort to improve asset quality and support leasing performance rather than to address vacancy.
CIP Real Estate's Broader Acquisition Activity
The Walnut acquisition caps a period of significant deal activity for CIP Real Estate. The firm closed more than $200 million in industrial park transactions over the preceding 90 days, with purchases in Dallas, South Florida and Atlanta. Combined with the Walnut deal, those transactions brought CIP's total industrial portfolio to more than $2.5 billion.
"We are very pleased to add Walnut Tech Business Center to our portfolio," said Eric Smyth, CEO of CIP Real Estate. "Very few quality small bay industrial parks come available for sale in Southern California each year, especially a best-in-class project in this strategically important sub-market of LA County."
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Irvine, CIP Real Estate owns and manages more than 12 million square feet of industrial properties across California, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas and Florida. The firm focuses on the acquisition, repositioning and management of industrial assets in West Coast, Southeast and Texas markets.
San Gabriel Valley Industrial Market Context
The San Gabriel Valley recorded a 4.5% direct vacancy rate, a 5.3% total vacancy rate and a 6.5% availability rate in the second quarter of 2026, across approximately 176.1 million square feet of industrial inventory. The submarket posted 721,958 square feet of positive direct net absorption in the quarter, though year-to-date direct absorption remained negative at 456,045 square feet — a pattern that points to a market stabilizing unevenly rather than returning to the tight conditions of the earlier industrial cycle.
Average industrial asking rents in the San Gabriel Valley stood at $1.41 per square foot per month on a triple-net basis in the second quarter of 2026. Across the broader Los Angeles industrial market, the average direct asking rate was $1.37 per square foot per month, down 6.16% year over year, while the average sale price was $283.59 per square foot. The Walnut acquisition's implied price of approximately $303 per square foot is above that Los Angeles-wide average, a premium that may reflect the asset's small-bay configuration, high suite count, 92% occupancy and the relative scarcity of comparable multi-tenant industrial offerings in the submarket.
Transaction Significance
Small-bay industrial product in built-out Southern California submarkets is generally considered difficult to replicate, given land constraints and the density of existing development. The 109-suite configuration at Walnut Tech Business Center serves smaller tenants that typically have fewer options in the market than larger distribution users. The property's location one mile from the 60 Freeway provides logistics connectivity within a submarket where new supply has historically been limited.
The involvement of JLL on both the capital markets and debt advisory sides of the transaction — with the West Coast Capital Markets team representing AEW on the sale and the Southern California debt team arranging the City National Bank financing for CIP — reflects the firm's dual role in facilitating the deal's execution.