Industrial strength. (Real Estate).

Demand for newly constructed Torrance industrial buildings remains strong.

Over the last three months, Los Angeles-based Investment Development Services has signed three leases totaling 186,000 square feet at its newly built Hamilton/Vermont Distribution Center in Torrance. The deals, which totaled $10.2 million, completed the lease-up of the two-building, 231,000-square-foot complex, which was completed during the third quarter of last year.

Panalpina Airfreight, Jardine Logistics and UPS-affiliate Fritz Companies took spaces of 81,500, 42,000 and 62,000 square feet, respectively. Panalpina and Jardine signed seven-year deals while Fritz's lease was for five years.

The lease deals illustrate how Torrance's newly-built industrial structures, which are designed with wider docking space and larger truck yards than older buildings, are drawing more logistics companies, according to John Schumacher, senior vice president at CB Richard Ellis.

"The closest market that provides new construction to LAX is Torrance," said Schumacher, who represented Investment Development Services on all three deals. "For the South Bay industrial market, one of the few consistent parts of our market was airport users moving out of the immediate area to state-of-the art facilities."

In December, GeoLogistics leased 177,000 square feet at ProLogis Park at 19600 Van Ness Ave. Other Torrance airfreight deals in the last few months include ABX Logistics' 42,000 square-foot lease and AirPlus Logistics 26,000-square-foot deal.