Q1 Shows How Hot Industrial Could be This Year

Amazon recently leased a 1 million-square-foot building on 72 acres located at 4500 Express within Wonderful Industrial Park (WIP) in Shafter. Amazon joins other large occupiers in the park such as Ross Stores with 3 million-plus square feet on 130 acres, Target’s 2 million square feet on 80 acres and Walmart at 630,000 square feet on 60 acres.

Amazon intends to use the facility to as a distribution center to sort and ship items to customers across the region. The site will create more than 1,000 full- and part-time jobs, paying a minimum of $15 per hour.

With Amazon, WIP is now approaching 10 million square feet of occupied space.

“Despite COVID-19, the commercial real estate story of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021 continue to be how hot the industrial market is with tenants like Ross, Walmart and now, Amazon, choosing to locate these major mission-critical facilities at WIP in consecutive years. It not only validates our location and development model, but adds an exclamation mark to industrial activity across the U.S.,” said Joe Vargas, president of Wonderful Real Estate Development.