*Courtesy of Costar (Source Article)

*Image Above: Matt Evans, President and Chief Investment Officer, 5770 Industrial Parkway, San Bernardino (52,000 SF cross dock terminal) of Commercial Observ

February 27, 2025

By Brannon Boswell 

A Los Angeles-based industrial development firm has a new leader to guide a busy year filled with redevelopment and acquisition goals.

Dedeaux Properties named Chief Investment Officer Matt Evans, who has guided the acquisition of $1.1 billion worth of properties in his six years at the firm, to the newly created position of president.

Evans, who will continue his role as chief investment officer, is stepping up his responsibilities as the firm is scouting opportunistic acquisitions and developing a pipeline of more than 2 million square feet of industrial properties, including distribution, transloading, truck terminals and trailer yards across Central Los Angeles and in the Inland Empire.

Previously, Evans led the asset management and capital markets activities for Arden, GE Real Estate’s wholly owned office portfolio accounting for about 15 million square feet across the United States.

Evans notes Dedeaux is moving quickly to take advantage of shifting market fundamentals. Capital sources are ready to fund new industrial projects but are waiting for more concrete data points to guide their decisions as historic data has become irrelevant, Evans said.

"There's a brief period here where we can take advantage and really move forward and secure some deals that are attractive today," Evans told CoStar News.

Dedeaux also gave Chief Operating Officer Alon Kraft, with 35 years of industry experience, the additional role of chief financial officer. Prior to joining Dedeaux, Kraft held multiple roles at the Los Angeles-based development firm Lowe Enterprises.

A year of action

For the past couple of years, tenants and capital providers have been choosy about which properties to lease or buy, but landlords are getting more of an upper hand as space gets tighter, Evans said.

Southern California is experiencing the lowest volume of new industrial inventory in more than a decade, according to Cushman & Wakefield. About 12.6 million square feet was under development in the Inland Empire at the end of last year, a decade low.

Dedeaux recently completed five new developments in the Inland Empire totaling about 850,000 square feet. The properties range from a 52,000-square-foot facility in San Bernardino to a 326,350-square-foot distribution center in Riverside.

The firm has been cleaning up its balance sheet, getting ahead of any financings, lease expirations or other distractions to focus on development and dealmaking.

"We're in a position to be more aggressive on taking advantage of some of the lesser competition in the market today," Evans said.

Dedeaux also feels the time is right to move forward with about $750 million worth of redevelopments of some of its wholly owned properties in Central LA and is busy deepening existing capital sources and finding new ones, Evans said.

"Banks are being a little bit easier going with respect to deposit requirements and what they're going to need to get active in the market," Evans said.

Possible tariffs aren't deterring investment in the region, he said. They might actually benefit Southern California industrial properties in the short term as they would likely make it less profitable for international players to serve Southern California demand from Mexico as some have, Evans said.

Vacancy is up year over year in the Los Angeles and Inland Empire industrial markets, according to CoStar data. However, rents could increase this year because of a lack of new development, according to Jesse Gundersheim, CoStar senior director of market analytics for Los Angeles.