Home Care In Center Point, LA

CenterPoint Properties has picked up another industrial property in the South Bay submarket of Los Angeles.

The Chicago-based real estate firm has acquired 301 E. Alondra Blvd. in Gardena, California, a 91,000-square-foot warehouse on 3.7 acres.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The property is currently leased to Bay Cities Metal Products, which manufactures sheet metal products for wholesale distributors and do-it-yourself home centers.

The site lies about 15 miles from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — where pressure on the supply chain has caused record-setting demand for warehouse space in the region — with easy access to the I-110, I-405, SR-91, I-710 and I-105 freeways.

“The location of this asset is the bullseye of CenterPoint’s premier target submarket, and we value having the flexibility for a low-coverage repositioning opportunity in the future,” said , CenterPoint Senior Vice President of Investments Evan Lippow in a statement.

The sale comes as demand for industrial real estate in Greater Los Angeles hit an all-time high in the fourth quarter. Industrial vacancy across the region fell to a record low of 0.5%, according to CBRE Group Inc., and was 0.6% in the South Bay submarket, where Gardena is located.

Meanwhile, Greater L.A. industrial asking lease rates surged from $1.08 last quarter to an all-time high of $1.27 in Q4, and were higher in the South Bay at $1.37.

The acquisition marks CenterPoint’s 11th property in the area, including a warehouse less than a mile away at 268 E. Gardena Blvd. in Carson that the company bought in December. The firm invested about $375 million to make a half-dozen acquisitions in the South Bay in 2021.

“It’s clear we greatly value this pocket of the L.A. Basin,” added West Coast Investment Officer Ashley Vanacore. “Tenant demand for both warehouse space and land sites continues to be really, really strong. Like other assets in the neighboring CenterPoint portfolio, 301 E. Alondra has unique optionality that we will continue to target moving forward.”

All told, CenterPoint invested $750 million to acquire 13 industrial properties across Southern California last year. The firm's latest acquisition brings its total holdings across the region to 66 properties comprising around 7.8 million square feet. The company said it plans to increase its investments in the area again this year.

The Gardena transaction was brokered by Matt Stringfellow, Courtney Bell and Tyler Rollema of The Klabin Co.

For years while he worked for his brother-in-law Guillermo Tellez's roofing company, Josh Wilson talked about his goal to open a food truck. Now, Tellez and Wilson have teamed up to start Taqueria La Familia, a food truck serving up tacos, elotes, tamales, tortas and other Mexican cuisine.

Wilson takes Mondays and Thursdays off, and sometimes the truck is hired out for catering, but most days it can be found in a parking lot on the corner of Center Point Road NE and 32nd St. NE.

The taco truck combines Tellez's heritage with Wilson's love of cooking. Tellez invested the capital to purchase and outfit the truck, while Wilson handles the menu and operations.

Originally from Washington state, he went to culinary school on the East Coast and further honed his skills cooking in France before returning to the United States. Though he has worked at numerous restaurants in the area, he said, ultimately, roofing was better money. But he never gave up his restaurant dream.

'My dream in life has always been to own a food truck,” he said. 'I said to my brother, ‘I'm getting too old to roof, I want a taco truck. I said that everyday for 10 years, and then on June 3, he actually bought it.”

Taqueria La Familia's tacos are made with house-made tortillas, and come topped with tongue, chicken or steak. The elotes - Mexican street corn - are ears of sweet corn slathered with mayonnaise, cotija cheese, chili powder and lime.

'Everything we make is homemade. I wanted the menu to be really simple - it's basically street food,” he said.

Simple doesn't mean lacking in technique, however.

'Even though you've had a taco, every taco is different,” he said. 'How do you make your tortilla? What kind of masa do you use? The texture of the meat says something, even though it's a very simple thing.”

He said the town where he grew up, Yakima, Washington, had a large Mexican immigrant population, and he grew up on the cuisine, eating at his friends' dinner tables.

Though his original goal was to play professional baseball, an injury ended that dream. Cooking, however, was a close second.

'I've always wanted to cook. I like that when someone eats my food, there's an emotional response,” he said. 'Whether it's good or bad, I just love seeing that response.”

The taqueria isn't where Wilson's dreams end. He and Tellez are already looking for a second truck to purchase, which Wilson envisions serving up what he calls 'simple gourmet” food, like ahi tuna and muffaleta sandwiches and shrimp po'boys. Eventually, he would like a brick-and-mortart restaurant, serving up seafood, in the model of something like a Joe's Crab Shack.

But they started with the taco truck, he said, because, 'Everybody loves tacos. Everybody loves Mexican food.”

If you go

l Comments: (319) 398-8339; [email protected]

l What: Taqueria La Familia food truck

l Where: Most often found in parking lot of Point Liquor and Tobacco, 3221 Center Point Road NE., Cedar Rapids

l When: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. Hours subject to change; check Facebook page for updates.

l Details: (319) 491-3874, facebook.com/Tacoman-Tacos-451264135345260. Taqueria La Familia only takes cash, for now.

Center Point’s volleyball losing streak extended to three matches when the Lady Pirates were downed by La Pryor on Friday allowing the Lady Bulldogs a sweep of their 30-2A volleyball series.

Scores were 25-10, 25-22, 25-22 against Center Point, and came on the heels one non-district defeat combined with a setback in a district road match.

Cobee Beckerson topped the Lady Pirates with 8 kills, Lily Mosty aced twice and served 11 points, Daniela Fuentes blocked three shots, and Kaylani Ritter had 13 assists.

The Lady Pirates split their other faceoffs with Brackett and Sabinal, faced Harper Tuesday and still harbored playoff aspirations based on regular season end results.

Tuesday, Oct. 17 the Lady Pirates were in San Antonio for a non-district outing where they went four sets against Atonement Academy before falling 14-25, 25-23, 9-25, 14-25.

Beckerson led Center Point with 7 kills, Mosty served 13 points, Fuentes blocked two shots, Christina Reyes had 10 digs, and Maria Diaz totaled 15 assists.

Prior to facing Atonement, the Lady Pirates were in Brackettville on Friday, Oct. 13 attempting to take out the Lady Tigers for a second time in district play after having defeated Brackett in 5 sets in Center Point.

Brackett proved to be a tough out on its home court, winning in three sets 25-20, 25-17, 25-17.

Fuentes had 6 kills and two blocks in the match, and other categories showed Reyes serving 11 points, Briana Camacho getting 15 digs and Diaz with 10 assists.

LADY PIRATES VOLLEYBALL BOXSCORE v La Pryor

Friday, Oct. 20

La Pryor over Center Point 25-10, 25-22, 25-22

Stat Leaders for Center Point – Kills: Cobee Beckerson 8, Maria Diaz 5, Daniela Fuentes 4, Isela Martinez, Briana Camacho, Kaylani Ritter 1; Aces: Lily Mosty 2, Diaz, Ritter 1; Service Points: Mosty 11, Ritter 10, Fuentes 8, Camacho, Diaz 7, Christina Reyes 5; Assists: Ritter 13, Diaz 3, Mosty, Camacho, Reyes 1; Blocks: Fuentes 3, Beckerson 1; Digs: Ritter 7, Mosty 4, Diaz, Fuentes, Camacho, Reyes, Beckerson 3, Jocelin Casillas 2

Center Point Record : 5-22, 2-5

Tivy sub-varsity teams struggled to overcome Cibolo Steele, with both teams falling Tuesday night in road game action.

Junior Varsity

The Antlers JV team fell to Cibolo Steele 56-41 on Tuesday, Nov. 28 when the Knights used second and third quarter explosions to power past Tivy.

Anthony Montoya was the Antler's most productive scorer with 16 points. Jeremiah Wright added 12.

Alan Viera had five. Darren Dominguez dropped in four. D.J.Rodarte added three and Jonathan Torres finished with one.

Tivy earned the first and fourth quarters 28-21. Steele outscored the Antlers 35-13 over the second and third frames.

Freshmen

Caleb Elliston scored 11 points as part of eight ninth-grade Antlers who pointed, but Steele held off Tivy 43-34 in the freshmen matchup.

Caleb Peschel with eight, Xavier Almendariz with four, Tervon Holmes and Gerardo Delgadillo with three each, Brandon Montoya and Jayden Caliendo with two apiece, and Zayden Long with one rounded out scoring for Tivy.

CenterPoint Properties has leased a South Bay industrial property it bought late last year.

The Chicago-based real estate firm has leased 19875–19899 Pacific Gateway Dr. in Torrance to Lotte Global Logistics, a logistics and shipping company headquartered in Seoul, Korea.

The 67,000-square-foot Class A property sits on 7.5 acres with less than 20% site coverage.

“A top-flight property like this with just 20% site coverage is prized in one of America’s top infill markets, South Bay,” said Bob Andrews, CenterPoint’s senior vice president of asset management. “We were thrilled to add it to our burgeoning port-proximate Southern California portfolio knowing the competition for it would be fervent among both first- and last-mile users.”

CenterPoint bought the property, which previously had been occupied by Coca-Cola Vending, late last year for $51.5 million, according to Reonomy data.

The site’s “configuration, clear span and parking make it one of the most efficient facilities in the L.A. Basin,” added Kim Rierson, CenterPoint’s vice president of construction. “We worked to make it even better, refreshing the 7,622-square-foot office and the building’s exterior.”

JLL’s Mike Fowler, Tim O’Rourke and Alex Staff represented CenterPoint in leasing the site. Lee & Associates’ Remy Moses and David Bales represented Lotte Global Logistics.

The lease comes as demand for industrial real estate in Greater Los Angeles remained at a record high in the first quarter.

Industrial vacancy across the region remained at a record low of 0.5%, according to CBRE Group Inc., and was even lower at 0.4% in Torrance, where the Pacific Gateway Drive facility is located.

Meanwhile, Greater L.A. industrial asking lease rates rose to another all-time high of $1.33 in Q1, and were even higher in Torrance at $1.69.

CenterPoint has been busy in the Southern California market, spending more than $750 million to acquire 13 properties here last year. So far in 2022, the company has acquired a 91,000-square-foot ware house in the South Bay and a 109,000-square-foot warehouse in the Inland Empire.

Our Milky Way galaxy is a vast collection of hundreds of billions of stars. We’re not in the galaxy’s center, but instead about 2/3s of the way out from center, in one of the Milky Way’s spiral arms. On August evenings, all of us on Earth can gaze toward the galaxy’s center in a dark sky. In fact, the band of the Milky Way gets broader and brighter in the direction toward the center. Plus, in that direction, you’ll find a famous asterism called the Teapot, in the constellation Sagittarius.

The Teapot’s pattern is distinctive. Once you spot it, it’s easy to imagine as an earthly teapot. You’ll find it southward on August evenings from the Northern Hemisphere, and overhead from the Southern Hemisphere.

Even if your sky isn’t dark, once you find the Teapot, you can use it to guide your mind’s eye to the star-rich center of our galaxy. A supermassive black hole lies at the galaxy’s heart. As a matter of fact, it has some 4 million times the mass of our sun. It’s called Sagittarius A* (Sagittarius A-Star).

You’ll want a fairly dark sky to find the Teapot (a suburban sky will likely work, if you’re not standing under a streetlight). You can see the Teapot even if you can’t see the starry band of the Milky Way. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, look southward on August evenings a couple of hours after sunset. If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, look overhead.

The Teapot and Sagittarius are best viewed during the evening hours from about July to September.

Want a more exact location for Sagittarius? Try Stellarium, which will let you set a date and time from your exact location on the globe.

The constellation of Sagittarius is supposed to be a centaur, a mythical half man/half horse creature, carrying a bow and arrow. But good luck spotting the centaur in these stars.

On the other hand, the Teapot – unlike many star patterns – looks like its namesake. That’s because the Teapot appears to have a handle, spout and lid, as any earthly teapot would. And just be sure to head to a dark sky for your best views of this Milky Way region.

Once you’ve found the Teapot, assuming you have a dark sky, you can see “steam” billowing out of the spout. Gaze into the midst of this “steam” – into the thickest part of it – and you’ll be gazing toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

Because the sun passes in front of Sagittarius from about December 18 to January 20, the Teapot isn’t visible then. However, about half a year later – on July 1 – the Teapot climbs to its highest point for the night around midnight (1 a.m. daylight saving time or DST), when it appears due south as seen from the Northern Hemisphere or due north as seen from the Southern Hemisphere. In August, the Teapot – and the Milky Way center – reach their highest points for the night during the evening hours.

By the way, another noteworthy point lies in the direction of the Teapot in space. It’s the point at which the sun shines on the December solstice around December 21 each year.

The center of our galaxy is some 30,000 light-years away. We can’t see directly into it, because this region is shrouded by dust and gas clouds. But studies of astronomers have shown that, when we look in this direction, we’re looking toward the supermassive black hole located at our galaxy’s heart. This black hole has some 4 million times our sun’s mass. It’s known as Sagittarius A*.

Now sweep the area around the Teapot with binoculars or a telescope. You’ll see many faint fuzzy objects pop into view. They’re star clusters and nebulae (gas clouds) located in the disk of our galaxy, in the direction toward the galaxy’s center.

So, find the Teapot on a dark night – when the moon is out of the way – and enjoy all it has to offer.

Bottom line: As you gaze toward the famous Teapot asterism in the constellation Sagittarius, you’re looking toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy.