Wonderful Real Estate sold a newly built, 40-foot-clear spec distribution building to a global technology and e-commerce company that now has three locations on the campus.
The Wonderful Logistics Center warehouse sale, announced Sept. 16, 2026, moved the 1,088,047-square-foot Class A building at 5104 Express Ave in Shafter, Kern County, California, from Wonderful Real Estate to an unnamed global technology and e-commerce company. The spec building has 40-foot clear height, 216 dock-high doors and 939 trailer stalls on about 74 acres. The price was not disclosed.
Key takeaways
- Wonderful Real Estate’s sale of the 1,088,047-square-foot building at 5104 Express Ave was announced Sept. 16, 2026. The price was not disclosed.
- The buyer, a global technology and e-commerce company, now has three locations at Wonderful Logistics Center and more than 3 million square feet owned or leased there.
- The building offers 40-foot clear height, 216 dock-high doors, two grade-level doors, 939 trailer stalls and 455 car spaces.
- On about 74 acres, the building covers roughly 34% of its site, leaving room for deep truck courts and trailer parking.
- The City of Shafter began an environmental impact report in April 2025 for a 1,307.9-acre Wonderful Logistics Center West expansion.
Deal at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Property | Class A distribution building at Wonderful Logistics Center |
| Address | 5104 Express Ave, Shafter, CA 93263 |
| Property type | Industrial; bulk distribution, built on a speculative basis |
| Building | 1,088,047 SF; 40-ft clear; 216 dock-high doors; 2 grade-level doors |
| Land | About 74 acres (per the center’s listing) |
| Buyer | A global technology and e-commerce company (not named) |
| Seller | Wonderful Real Estate (The Wonderful Company) |
| Price | Not disclosed |
| Announced | Sept. 16, 2026 |
| Planned use | Owner-user distribution; buyer’s third location on the campus |
Who bought the Wonderful Logistics Center warehouse, and what sold?
Wonderful Real Estate, the real estate arm of The Wonderful Company, sold the newly built Class A distribution building at 5104 Express Ave, REBusinessOnline reported on Sept. 16, 2026. The building totals 1,088,047 square feet, according to Connect CRE. The price was not disclosed.
Both outlets described the buyer only as a global technology and e-commerce company. Connect CRE reported that this is the buyer’s third location at Wonderful Logistics Center and that its owned and leased space on the campus now exceeds 3 million square feet.
Joe Vargas, president of Wonderful Real Estate, told Connect CRE that global operators keep choosing the campus because it is “a model within the state and the country that offers something fundamentally different.”
What are the specs of the 5104 Express Ave building?
The building has the features of a modern bulk distribution center: 40-foot clear height, 216 dock-high doors and 939 trailer stalls. Wonderful built it on a speculative basis, meaning without a tenant or buyer signed in advance. The center’s availability listing adds a lot of about 74 acres and 50-by-56-foot column spacing. For a refresher on these terms, see our guide to industrial building specs.
Building specifications
| Spec | Detail |
|---|---|
| Building | 1,088,047 SF (Connect CRE); REBusinessOnline rounds to 1.1 million SF |
| Land | About 74 acres |
| Clear height | 40 feet |
| Column spacing | 50 x 56 feet |
| Loading | 216 dock-high doors; 2 grade-level doors |
| Trailer stalls | 939 |
| Car parking | 455 spaces |
| Building coverage | About 34% of the site |
The ratios tell the story. The building has about one dock door for every 5,000 square feet and more than four trailer stalls per door, and it covers only about a third of its land. That mix fits a high-volume operation that turns trailers quickly rather than a storage-heavy warehouse.
What is Wonderful Logistics Center, and where is it?
Wonderful Logistics Center, formerly Wonderful Industrial Park, is a single-owner, master-planned campus in Shafter. 23ABC reported in June 2025 that it covered 1,600 acres and supported more than 13,000 jobs. The September 2026 sale coverage describes a 2,000-acre campus. The center’s website lists tenants including Target, Walmart and Ross, and a Career Center of more than 100,000 square feet backed by a $70 million-plus investment.
Location is the pitch. Shafter sits about 18 miles west-northwest of Bakersfield on State Route 43, and Wonderful says the campus is about two hours from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and four hours from San Francisco and Oakland. According to Wikipedia, the city’s Paramount Logistics Park, formerly the International Trade and Transportation Center, connects BNSF rail service to tenants, and Shafter’s distribution base includes Target (2002), Ross (2015) and FedEx Ground (2015). Our look at why Kern County works for logistics covers the highway and rail advantages.
The campus has reshaped the city’s finances. 23ABC reported that the center accounts for the bulk of Shafter’s tax revenue. City Manager Lance Lippincott said, “Shafter is one of the few cities in the central valley where more workers commute in every day than commute out.”
Why would a user buy a spec building instead of leasing?
Buying lets the occupier control the building outright and gives the seller an immediate exit. Developers build on spec to be ready when a large user needs space fast. The usual exit is a lease, then a sale to an investor. Here Wonderful sold straight to the end user, which recycles its capital into the next phase without carrying a single-tenant lease. It also gives the buyer full control of a building it may want to automate heavily.
Big-box users more often lease. Buying a building of this size signals a long horizon, and a third location on the same campus points to clustering: one labor pool, one trailer and yard network, and a training pipeline through the on-site Career Center. For Wonderful, a repeat customer buying instead of leasing is a strong endorsement of the campus. Owner-users weighing the same choice can start with our guide to buying a building for your business.
Because the buyer will occupy the building, the price likely reflects replacement cost and the value of speed, not a cap rate on rent. For context, a national brokerage’s 2026 construction cost guide puts the national average at $78 per square foot for large industrial projects. Regional brokerage reports put the average Bakersfield industrial sale price at $123 per square foot in Q2 2026 across all building types.
What does the sale mean for the Kern County industrial market?
It is a large trade for a market of about 69 million square feet. A regional brokerage report counted 69,442,139 square feet of industrial inventory in Q2 2026, so this one building equals about 1.6% of the metro total. The same report put vacancy at 9.55%, down from 10.90% in Q1, with 1,489,196 square feet of positive net absorption over 12 months.
Supply is tightening at the top end. A national brokerage report counted about 6.8 million square feet available in Q2 2026 and only one building under construction, at 510,000 square feet. If 5104 Express Ave was in that available count, as its marketing suggests, its sale alone removes about 16% of it. That is Kern CRE’s calculation, based on that assumption. For the one building under construction, see our report on Tejon Ranch Commerce Center Building 1B.
Brokers expect steady demand. A Q2 2026 South Central Valley brokerage report says food and beverage and logistics tenants make up 40% of requirements and expects the market to “remain stable to improving through the remainder of 2026.” Nationally, brokerage data showed industrial vacancy back below 7% in July 2026. To read figures like these, see our guide to industrial market reports.
What happens next at Wonderful Logistics Center?
The buyer has not announced a move-in date or hiring plan for 5104 Express Ave. The center’s availability page still shows another 1 million-square-foot building at 2902 Express Ave, with 42-foot clear height on 54.6 acres. It also lists multi-tenant space of 118,000 square feet at 4921 Capital Road and up to 190,250 square feet at 4770 Fanucchi Way.
The bigger story is land. In April 2025 the City of Shafter issued a Notice of Preparation for an environmental impact report covering Wonderful Logistics Center West, a 1,307.9-acre expansion, and the 638.8-acre Lerdo Residential project. 23ABC reported that Wonderful aims to double the campus footprint within the next decade. The draft EIR and City Council hearings are the next milestones. Our report on a Shafter furniture warehouse proposal shows other industrial growth in the city.
Frequently asked questions
Who bought the Wonderful Logistics Center warehouse at 5104 Express Ave?
Trade reports identified the buyer only as a global technology and e-commerce company. They said it is the company’s third location at Wonderful Logistics Center in Shafter, and that its owned and leased space on the campus now tops 3 million square feet. The sale announcement did not name the company.
How big is the building at 5104 Express Ave in Shafter?
The Class A building totals 1,088,047 square feet on about 74 acres. It has 40-foot clear height, 50-by-56-foot column spacing, 216 dock-high doors, two grade-level doors, 939 trailer stalls and 455 car spaces. Wonderful Real Estate built it without a tenant signed in advance.
How much did the 1.09-million-square-foot Shafter warehouse sell for?
Neither side disclosed the price. An owner-user buyer typically weighs replacement cost and speed to occupancy instead of rent. As a rough benchmark, regional brokerage data put the average Bakersfield industrial sale price at $123 per square foot in Q2 2026, across all building types and sizes.
Who brokered the 5104 Express Ave sale?
Brokerage firms represented both the seller, Wonderful Real Estate, and the buyer, according to REBusinessOnline. The sale was announced Sept. 16, 2026. The buyer’s planned start date has not been made public.
What is Wonderful Logistics Center?
It is a master-planned logistics campus in Shafter owned by The Wonderful Company, formerly called Wonderful Industrial Park. It spanned 1,600 acres and more than 13,000 jobs in mid-2025, and 2026 reports describe it as 2,000 acres. Tenants include Target, Walmart and Ross, and the campus has an on-site Career Center.
Is Wonderful Logistics Center expanding?
Yes. In April 2025 the City of Shafter began an environmental review of Wonderful Logistics Center West, a 1,307.9-acre expansion, alongside the 638.8-acre Lerdo Residential project. Wonderful has said it aims to double the campus within a decade, according to 23ABC. A draft EIR and council hearings come next.
Looking for big-box or distribution space in Shafter or anywhere in Kern County? Call Kern CRE at 661-885-6949 or contact us. Get Kern County CRE news monthly: subscribe to the Kern CRE report.
Sources
- Wonderful Co. Sells 1.1 MSF Industrial Property in Shafter, California, REBusinessOnline, Sept. 16, 2026.
- Wonderful Real Estate Trades 1.1M-SF Industrial to Global Technology Company, Connect CRE, Sept. 16, 2026.
- Global tech company buys 1.09M-square-foot Shafter warehouse, The Business Journal, Sept. 17, 2026 (headline only; paywalled).
- Availability, Wonderful Logistics Center.
- Wonderful Logistics Center home page, Wonderful Logistics Center.
- Wonderful Logistics Center expansion lays groundwork for job, economic growth in Shafter, 23ABC (KERO), June 13, 2025.
- Notice of Preparation of an Environmental Impact Report: Wonderful Logistics Center West and Lerdo Residential, City of Shafter (via CEQAnet), April 23, 2025.
- Shafter, California, Wikipedia.
- Q2 2026 Bakersfield, CA Industrial Market Report, Lee & Associates, July 2026.
- Bakersfield Industrial MarketBeat Q2 2026, Cushman & Wakefield, Q2 2026.
- South Central Valley Industrial Figures Q2 2026, CBRE, Aug. 3, 2026.
- 2026 Americas Industrial Construction Cost Guide, Cushman & Wakefield, 2026.
- Modest New Supply and Intensifying Demand Push Industrial Vacancy Back Below 7%, Cushman & Wakefield via Business Wire, July 23, 2026.
About this article
Kern CRE prepared this article with help from AI research and writing tools. An editor reviewed the draft, checked its facts against the sources linked above and edited it for accuracy and clarity. Details come from public records and the sources cited; unless stated, Kern CRE and ASU Commercial were not involved in the transaction or project.