PORTLAND, TENN. — Equus Capital Partners Ltd. has acquired a four-building, 1.3 million-square-foot industrial portfolio in Portland, a city roughly 40 miles north of Nashville, for an undisclosed price. The acquisition was made on behalf of Equus Investment Partnership X LP, a $361 million discretionary equity fund managed by Equus. The portfolio includes three Class A assets located at 1115 and 1125 Vaughn Drive and 1042 Fred White Blvd., all constructed between 2002 and 2007. The properties feature 32-foot clear heights, ESFR sprinkler systems, ample loading, 125- to 175-foot truck courts and efficient column spacing. The two larger buildings include cross-dock configurations. In addition, the portfolio includes one Class B building located at 104 Challenger Drive. Constructed in 1996, the building was renovated in 2007 to include T-5 lighting and an ESFR sprinkler system. Cushman & Wakefield arranged the sale of the portfolio, which was approximately 90 percent leased at the time of sale.
MINNEAPOLIS — PCCP and Capital Partners LLP have formed a joint venture to acquire a 1.2 million-square-foot industrial portfolio in metro Minneapolis. The purchase price was not disclosed. Artis, a Canada-based REIT, sold the seven-property portfolio, which is 82 percent leased. The assets feature a mix of bulk warehouse, light industrial and flex product types. The properties include France Avenue Business Park (Brooklyn Center), Northpoint Industrial Center (Fridley), Eagan Industrial Warehouse (Eagan), Corporate Square (Eagan), Braemar Business Center (Bloomington), Burnsville Business Center (Burnsville) and Round Lake Business Center (Arden Hills).
HOUSTON — McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. has been awarded the contract to build the Southwest Airlines Tech Ops MX Hangar project at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston. The two-bay hangar maintenance facility will be able to house up to six 737 aircraft and will include paved aircraft parking areas, aircraft wash facilities, taxiway connections, parking and loading docks. The construction includes demolition of existing facilities and utility relocation. Totaling 240,000 square feet, the hangar will also feature offices, parts storage and other support areas. McCarthy Building’s previous projects for Southwest Airlines include its new office building and Leadership Education and Aircrew Development center in Dallas. The contractor’s other aviation work includes projects at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
COPPELL, TEXAS — Lee & Associates Dallas/Fort Worth has completed a lease extension and expansion totaling 445,695 square feet located at 777 Freeport Parkway in Coppell, about 22 miles northwest of Dallas. Bob Gibson of CBRE represented the tenant, C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc., a wholesale grocery supplier and leading supply chain company for the food industry. Ken Wesson and Mark Graybill of Lee & Associates represented the landlord, GLP, a developer of logistics facilities based in Baltimore.
NORTH HAVEN, CONN. — Calare Properties has acquired a warehouse distribution facility, located at 33 Stiles Lane in North Haven, for an undisclosed price. Situated on 14 acres, the property features 175,000 square feet of warehouse and distribution space. Along with the purchase, Calare secured a 10-year lease with a supplier of chemical additives and measuring instruments, bringing the building to 100 percent occupancy, including the current tenant Millwood Inc. The one-story steel-frame warehouse features 32-foot ceilings, 18 tailboard docks and three drive-in doors. The name of the seller was not released.
AURORA, CAROL STREAM AND NEW LENOX, ILL. — Colliers International has arranged the sale of a 1.4 million-square-foot industrial portfolio in metro Chicago for $95 million. All six buildings in the portfolio are located in business parks with immediate access to interstate highways. The buildings include: 494 E. Lies Road, an 89,380-square-foot facility in the Carol Point Business Center in Carol Stream; 2520 Diehl Road, a 130,000-square-foot facility in the White Oak Business Park in Aurora; and 2700 Ellis Road, 2101 Haven Road, 2201 Haven Road and 2200 Haven Road within the Cherry Hill Business Park in New Lenox. Collectively, the buildings were 100 percent leased to seven tenants at the time of sale. Jeff Devine and Steve Disse of Colliers International represented the seller, institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. A comingled fund managed by CBRE Investors purchased the portfolio.
TROY, MICH. — Bontaz Centre has signed a 40,000-square-foot industrial lease for its North American headquarters in Troy. Previously occupied by International Automotive Components, the property is located at 1099 Chicago Road. Founded in 1965, Bontaz Centre is an automotive fluid management company that specializes in subassembly design and production. The company, which has had a small presence in Madison Heights, will begin occupying the new space in March 2018 and expects to expand its lease by an additional 20,000 square feet to increase production processes and accommodate a growing workforce. Peter Kepic and Peter Kepic Jr. of Colliers International represented the landlord, John Secco of Allegra Development, in the lease transaction. Gary Grochowski and Bryan Barnas of Colliers represented the tenant.
BUFORD, GA. — JLL Income Property Trust has acquired Mason Mill Distribution Center, a 340,000-square-foot industrial property in Buford, roughly 38 miles northeast of Atlanta, for $31 million. The newly constructed building is fully leased to a publicly traded global pharmaceutical distribution company through 2027. Mason Mill Distribution Center features 32-foot ceiling heights, an ESFR sprinkler system, LED lighting, a cross-dock design and 376 parking spaces. In addition, the facility is fully air-conditioned.
HALETHORPE, MD. AND MIAMI — Ready Capital Structured Finance has arranged two loans totaling $20.4 million for an industrial property in Halethorpe and a mixed-use property in Miami. Ready Capital arranged a $14 million, three-year loan for the acquisition, renovation and stabilization of a 313,000-square-foot industrial property in Halethorpe, a city roughly seven miles south of Baltimore. The borrower plans to upgrade the property with full interior unit renovations, exterior renovations and infrastructure upgrades, followed by re-tenanting the property. In Miami, Ready Capital arranged a $6.4 million, three-year loan for the acquisition, renovation and stabilization of a 19,600-square-foot mixed-use property. The borrower plans to fully renovate unit interiors, build out new retail space and re-tenant the property. Both loans feature floating interest rates, two extension options and flexible pre-payment structures. The names of the borrowers were not disclosed.
Demand for data center space stems from a variety of sources. The vast majority of companies across most industries have some sort of web presence, and their customer and employee records and information are stored electronically. At the same time on the consumer side, smartphones and tablet devices are all but ubiquitous, their owners constantly upping their usage of apps and social media platforms. Nonprofit communications firm CTIA tracks aggregate wireless data usage across the country on an annual basis. The Washington, D.C.-based company found that in 2013, Americans used approximately 3.2 trillion megabytes of data. By 2015, a year in which there were about 228 million smartphones and 41 million tablet devices in circulation, that figure had increased threefold to 9.6 trillion megabytes. By 2016, a year in which there were more than 261 million smartphones in circulation, wireless data usage had exceeded 13.7 trillion megabytes. That total represents more than 35 times the volume of data traffic recorded in 2010, according to CTIA’s website. Web presences, records storage and electronic communications — not to mention the ever-expanding role of e-commerce in retail today — each contribute marginally to the growing demand for data center space. However, when combined …