Natural foods retailer signs $30 million lease for Riverside DC

Natural foods retailer signs $30 million lease for Riverside DC Natural and organic food distributor United Natural Foods Inc. has signed 10-year lease to occupy the entire 613,174-square-foot March Commerce Center in Moreno Valley.
   The $28.5 million deal will give the Dayville, Conn.-based firm its largest distribution center in the nation.
   UNF becomes the first tenant of the Riverside County facility, which was built in 2006 but never occupied. In addition to the lease price, UNF plans to upgrade the facility with more than $10 million in improvements, including freezers and refrigeration units for its food distribution business.
   The 28-acre March Commerce Center is owned by Canadian firm Cactus Commerce LLC and located near the intersection of the Pomona (SR-60) and Riverside (Interstate 215) freeways.
   UNF has doubled its warehouse capacity in the past five years, adding about 1.9 million square feet of warehouse capacity since 2002. The firm distributes more than 40,000 products to about 17,000 U.S. retail chains, independent retailers and conventional supermarkets.
   The new facility is also the third West Coast location for UNF. The firm is constructing a new 237,000-square-foot DC in Ridgefield, Wash., to serve as a regional distribution hub for Northwest customers. A 487,000-square-foot Rocklin, Calif. center operates as a distribution hub for UNF customers in Northern California and surrounding areas.