DCT Industrial Trust Inc. Leases 385,000 Square Feet in Southern California

DENVER, May 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- DCT Industrial Trust Inc.® (NYSE: DCT), a leading industrial real estate company, today announced it has signed leases totaling 385,000 square feet in Southern California.  The transactions bring DCT Industrial's consolidated Southern California portfolio to 91% leased.

DCT Industrial has signed a lease at its Sycamore Canyon Logistics Center in Southern California with Summer Infant, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUMR), a designer, marketer, and distributor of juvenile health, safety and wellness products.  Summer Infant will occupy 320,000 square feet of the 460,000 square foot development building with an option to expand.  

According to Jeff Hale, Chief Operations Officer for Summer Infant, "The sizable footage of this facility, coupled with the option to expand our operations within the same location, will allow for uninterrupted future growth.  It also affirms our commitment to the Southern California region and creates a larger west coast portal important to facilitating this expansion."

The building at Sycamore Canyon Logistics Center is a modern, Class A state-of-the-art facility with a secured 180 foot truck court, 68 extra trailer storage spaces, a 30 foot clear height, and an ESFR sprinkler system.  The building is located at 6255 Sycamore Canyon Boulevard in Riverside, CA, part of the Inland Empire East submarket.  

At Southern California Logistics Airport (SCLA), Plastipak Packaging, Inc. has signed a lease to expand its facility by 65,000 square feet and fully stabilize DCT Industrial's 296,000 square foot building.  SCLA is DCT Industrial's development venture with Stirling Airports International, LLC in the Inland Empire submarket of Southern California.  Plastipak is an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of high-quality plastic rigid containers and is supporting the Dr Pepper Snapple Group which purchased 53 acres from the SCLA joint venture in 2009 to build their Western distribution center.  Dr Pepper Snapple Group is planning to begin public distribution of their products by mid-2010.  

"These transactions are significant for DCT Industrial as we deepen our presence in Southern California," said Jeff Phelan, DCT Industrial's President of Development and Managing Director for Southern California.  "Our portfolio of Class A bulk distribution facilities is proving to meet the needs of increasing customer demand because of the quality of our buildings, easy access to major domestic and international distribution hubs, and the ability for customized usage and build out."

Jim Koenig of CBRE represented DCT Industrial in the lease of Sycamore Canyon and Joey Sugar of CBRE represented Summer Infant in the transaction.

About DCT Industrial Trust Inc.®

DCT Industrial Trust Inc. (NYSE: DCT) is a leading industrial real estate company that owns, operates and develops high-quality bulk distribution and light industrial properties in high-volume distribution markets in the U.S. and Mexico. As of March 31, 2010, the Company owned, managed or had under development 75.4 million square feet of assets leased to approximately 810 customers, including 14.6 million square feet managed on behalf of three institutional joint venture partners.  Additional information is available at www.dctindustrial.com.

About Summer Infant, Inc.

Based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, the Company is a designer, marketer and distributor of branded durable juvenile health, safety and wellness products (for ages 0-3 years), which are sold principally to large U.S. retailers.  The Company currently sells proprietary products in a number of different categories, including nursery audio/video monitors, safety gates, durable bath products, bed rails, nursery products, booster and potty seats, infant bedding, bouncers, travel accessories, highchairs, swings and nursery furniture.

SOURCE DCT Industrial Trust Inc.