The Atlanta industrial market continues to grow in popularity when it comes to real estate investors’ appetite. Industrial assets are “hot items” in current investment sales transactions as the region’s economic momentum continues to position Atlanta as one of the healthiest industrial markets in the Southeast. Some of the major local and macro-economic trends affecting the industrial market include the ongoing growth of infrastructure, logistics and manufacturing industries. Furthermore, the Port of Savannah’s new Post Panamax facilities, its ongoing investment and expansion plans and its increasing activity are also beneficial to the Atlanta industrial market. Investment sales professionals, especially individual investors, remain attracted to Atlanta’s industrial market as e-commerce continues to transform how and where products are stored and shipped, not to mention the simplicity of owning and managing industrial properties, compared to retail and office. In 2016, the Atlanta industrial market experienced over 17 million square feet of net absorption. The forecasted absorption for 2017 ranges between 12 and 14 million square feet, with approximately 12 million square feet of new product being delivered this year. Over 90 percent of the new product comprises warehouse/distribution product, and less than 10 percent consists of new flex and shallow-bay buildings. Most …
MIDDLETOWN, PA. — A joint venture between Woodmont Industrial Partners and AEW Capital Management, on behalf of its closed-end opportunistic real estate fund AEW Partners VI, has completed the disposition of Capital Logistics Center in Middletown for undisclosed price. The partnership completed an extensive capital improvement program at the six-building, 1.55 million-square-foot industrial park. The joint venture constructed new industrial facilities to replace the antiquated structures that previously occupied 200 and 300 Capital Lane. The name of the buyer was not released.
PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Rockefeller Group has acquired a 228-acre industrial site located at 171 River Road in Piscataway. Lincoln Equities Group and Real Capital Solutions sold the former brownfield site for $57 million. The remediated site is fully entitled to build 2.4 million square feet of space for industrial distribution and light manufacturing space. The buyer will break ground on two new buildings later this summer with an anticipated overall project cost between $225 million and $250 million. David Bernhaut of Cushman & Wakefield represented the sellers in the transaction.
AUGUSTA, GA. — Starbucks has unveiled plans to expand its soluble plant in Augusta. The $120 million expansion will add 140,000 square feet to the current 180,000-square-foot facility, nearly doubling the size of the operation. Starbucks opened the plant in July 2012. It is the first company-owned facility in the world to produce Starbucks soluble products. Located roughly 20 miles south of Fort Gordon, the plant currently employs 185 Starbucks partners, one in six of which are armed forces veterans or military spouses. The expansion will bring up to 100 new jobs to the facility. Construction on the property is slated for completion in fall 2019. On the retail front, Starbucks plans to add 12,000 stores globally by 2021, bringing the total number to 37,000.
MIAMI — Fifteen Group has sold 200 South Miami Avenue, a 110,000-square-foot logistics facility in downtown Miami, for $37.3 million. The sales price was nearly double what the Miami-based investment firm paid in July 2014, when it purchased the asset for $19 million. The building is net-leased to FedEx until 2029 with a five-year renewal option, according to The Real Deal.
HOUSTON — NAI Partners has negotiated a 227,000-square-foot industrial lease at 6501 Navigation Blvd. in Houston. Clay Pritchett of NAI Partners represented the landlord, Quasar Navigation Ltd., in the lease negotiations. David Cartwright of B&C Capital represented the tenant, MEI Rigging and Crating LLC, a packing and shipping firm with offices across the Southwest.
MAPLE GROVE, MINN. — CBRE Capital Markets has negotiated the sale of the Bass Creek Technology Plaza in Maple Grove, about 17 miles northwest of Minneapolis, for $10 million. The 108,628-square-foot industrial building is located at 6250 Sycamore Lane North. The property is fully leased to ZEISS, a technology firm specializing in optics and optoelectronics. Constructed as a build-to-suit for ZEISS in 2001, the building features office space, manufacturing space and a warehouse. Judd Welliver, Ryan Watts, Sonja Dusil and Tom Holtz of CBRE represented the seller, Interstate Partners. STAG Industrial, an investment firm headquartered in Boston, was the buyer.
NORCROSS, GA. — Lincoln Property Co. has completed the $3.5 million sale of a 56,600-square-foot office and industrial building located at 4261 Communications Drive in Norcross, roughly 20 miles north of Atlanta. The property features 11,597 square feet of office and showroom space, as well as a 44,389-square-foot warehouse featuring 24-foot clear heights and drive-in, dock-high loading. Young Georgia Properties LLC acquired the asset, and Chip Sipple and Jeff Henson of Lincoln represented the seller, Flooring International Distribution Inc., in the transaction.
PASADENA, TEXAS — Clay Development & Construction has broken ground on Phase II of Energy Commerce Business Park, a 45-acre industrial park located along Sam Houston Parkway near Highway 225 in the Port Houston submarket. Phase II will deliver two buildings: a 101,400-square-foot, rear load facility and a 232,960-square-foot cross-dock warehouse/distribution center. Both buildings are slated for an early 2018 completion. Phase I of construction, which was completed in 2016, delivered two buildings totaling 287,560 square feet that are 70 percent leased to tenants such as DNA Motoring, Cintas First Aid & Safety and JGB Enterprises.
GARLAND, TEXAS — NAI Robert Lynn has negotiated an 114,515-square-foot office/warehouse lease at 3901 W. Miller Road in the Dallas metro of Garland. Stephen Cooper of NAI Robert Lynn represented the undisclosed landlord in the transaction. Ann Huntington of CBRE represented the tenant, Stonecrop Technologies LLC, a California-based communications deployment firm.