The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec’s real estate investment arm, Ivanhoé Cambridge, along with CapRock Partners, is announcing the start of construction for a Californian development in which it has invested US$450 million.

The first phase logistics complex, Colony Commerce Center in Ontario, Calif., will be made up of two industrial buildings and will feature truck courts, loading docks and trailer parking.

“We are bullish on the North American industrial market, and with low vacancy rates and strong rent growth in the Inland Empire, Colony Commerce Center is strongly positioned to meet tenant demand,” said Mario Morroni, executive vice-president of industrials for North America at Ivanhoé Cambridge, in a press release. “This is an especially significant project for Ivanhoé Cambridge, one that enables us to establish a strong foothold in the southern California industrial market by delivering state-of-the-art industrial facilities in a fast-growing region during a critical time of need for industrial space.”

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The investment adds to the firm’s growing portfolio of North American industrial real estate, now sitting at more than US$2.5 billion. The second phase of the complex, which will begin construction by the end of 2018, will be directly adjacent from the first phase, comprising a 92,903 square-metre building with eight smaller structures.

“Colony Commerce Center represents one of the last infill industrial development sites in Inland Empire West,” said Patrick Daniels, chief executive officer of CapRock Partners, in the release. “We are excited to work with Ivanhoé Cambridge on its first logistics development in the U.S. With a desirable location, strong market fundamentals and growing demand for industrial space, Colony Commerce Center is set to be the crown jewel of logistics business parks for this region.”

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