All posts by singlemalt

Native Angeleno and Industrial real estate agent since 1994.

Grease Interceptor (Clarifier) for Food Processing Buildings

Grease fat waste interceptor clarifierFor most industrial food processing facilities, the minimum required pretreatment of water containing solids or fats (grease) consists of a three-compartment, gravity separation interceptor (clarifier) and a sampling box.  These water clarifiers can be found commonly  in the yard area outside of the food prep area for operations such as seafood processing, poultry deboning, beef cutting, produce packing, commercial kitchens, commissaries, etc…  The goal of these interceptors is to prevent dirty water containing solids from entering the sewer system.    They are designed specifically for the sanitary removal of solid waste from food processing operations and smaller versions are commonly called grease traps in restaurants.

Forever 21 Purchases Two Large Buildings

Forever 21, the large garment manufacturer of young women’s clothing, has acquired two large buildings in the past year.  The first building is the 370,000 square foot Overland Terminal facility at the intersection of Alameda St and Olympic Blvd in Downtown Los Angeles with a price of $20 M.  This multistory building has parking and dock high loading.  The second purchase was in the City of Vernon on Sierra Pine Ave.  This collection of several Class B buildings totals near 130,000 square feet.  Forever 21 was the tenant in the buildings and the sale price was approximately $6.5 M.

The company is based in Downtown Los Angeles and occupies several hundred thousand square feet of buildings at Alameda St and 20th St.

CMBS Defaults Coming, Haven’t Yet Arrived En Masse

2010, 2011 and 2012 will be difficult years with a significant number of commercial mortgages reaching the end of their five-year lifespans, but another set is coming due in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

About $185 billion of the $600 billion in commercial mortgage-backed loans issued between 2005 and 2007 are scheduled to mature between 2010 and 2012. It’s not only CMBS that market watchers should be worried about, because $1 trillion worth of commercial mortgage maturities will occur by 2012, including CMBS, bank loans and insurance company loans.

There are many hungry buyers sitting on the sidelines with cash ready to pounce.  A limited number of them have been able to find bargains, but most of coming commercial real estate defaults will occur in Office and Retail, with Industrial markets holding better ground.  The Central Los Angeles Industrial market has witnessed very few CMBS defaults at this time.

Flat Los Angeles CPI for April

The Los Angeles MSA (LA-Riverside-OC) Consumer Price Index inched up by +0.1% in April following no change in overall prices in March.  Over the past year, prices in the region have declined by -1.3%.  The chief culprit was falling transportation prices which were primarily driven by plunging energy prices, down by -32.1% since April of last year.  On the other hand, core CPI (less food and energy) prices increased by +1.5% during the same period. [Note:  local consumer price index data are not seasonally adjusted]

The above data is used to calculate the annual rent increases on a typical lease.  Many rent adjustment clauses allow for annual increases to fall within a range, such as 3-6% per annum.  Right now, the annual rate of change is zero according to the above data.