Partnership purchases 75,992-square-foot facility at premium pricing amid softening market conditions
An industrial facility in in Orange County’s North County submarket has traded hands. International Paper and LA’s Totally Awesome partnered to acquire a 75,992-square-foot industrial facility at 6211 Descanso Avenue in Buena Park from Crockett Living Trust for $31.3 million. The transaction priced at $411.23 per square foot, ranking among the highest prices per square foot in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to Kidder Mathews.
International Paper, headquartered in Memphis and employing approximately 39,000 workers worldwide, operates as one of the largest manufacturers of corrugated containers in the United States. The company completed its $7.2 billion acquisition of British packaging company DS Smith in January 2025, expanding its global operations across North America, Latin America, Europe and North Africa. International Paper maintains manufacturing and distribution centers throughout its network to support corrugated packaging, fulfillment solutions and specialty products for e-commerce, food processing and consumer goods industries.
LA’s Totally Awesome, founded in 1983, operates as one of the largest manufacturers of alternative-use and sustainable ingredient cleaning products in the United States. The company maintains manufacturing and distribution centers in West Memphis, Arkansas and Orange County, Calif., with fully integrated facilities that oversee production from start to finish. The company’s product portfolio spans nine brands serving retail customers through dollar stores, major home improvement retailers and online channels.
The acquisition demonstrates continued investor appetite for well-located industrial properties despite broader market headwinds affecting Orange County. The North County submarket recorded negative net absorption of 191,569 square feet for the full year 2025, though the submarket posted positive absorption of 160,288 square feet in the fourth quarter as tenant activity improved in the final months of the year.
Direct vacancy in North County reached 5.5 percent at year-end, with total availability including subleases and space under construction climbing to 8.6 percent. The submarket encompasses 111.2 million square feet of industrial space and recorded 645,982 square feet of leasing activity in the fourth quarter, contributing to 5.1 million square feet of total leasing volume for the full year.
Investment activity remained robust across Orange County despite rising vacancy rates and declining lease rates. Average sales prices reached $310.50 per square foot in the fourth quarter while cap rates averaged 5.9 percent. Sale transaction volume totaled 929,773 square feet in the period, up 18.42 percent from 785,178 square feet in the fourth quarter of 2024.
North County asking lease rates averaged $1.48 per square foot on a triple net basis at year-end, reflecting market adjustments as landlords responded to increased availability. Properties in the 5,000 to 9,999 square foot range maintained just 1.9 percent vacancy across Orange County, while buildings in the 100,000 to 249,999 square foot category experienced vacancy above 11 percent.
Kidder Mathews noted that Orange County’s diverse workforce in advanced manufacturing, healthcare and life sciences supports long-term demand for industrial space. The construction pipeline included approximately 1.4 million square feet of space under development at year-end, with significant projects including Tishman Speyer’s 379,168-square-foot Bake Freeway Business Park and IDI Logistics’ 285,719-square-foot Orange Logistics Center.
The broader Orange County industrial market closed 2025 with direct vacancy climbing to 5.8 percent from 4.1 percent a year earlier as the market absorbed newly completed construction from 2024 and 2025. Asking lease rates declined to $1.49 per square foot on a triple net basis, down 6.29 percent year over year, as landlords adjusted pricing to attract tenants in a market characterized by negative net absorption of 2.2 million square feet for the full year.
