PORT HURON, MICH. — HP Pelzer Automotive Systems has signed a 90,000-square-foot industrial lease in Port Huron, about 60 miles north of Detroit. The manufacturer of acoustic and thermal components for the automotive sector will occupy the entire building located at 2336-2356 Beard St. HP Pelzer maintains additional facilities in Port Huron. Jason Capitani and Joe DePonio of L. Mason Capitani CORFAC International brokered the lease transaction.
BUFORD, GA. — Liberty Property Trust has signed ProCraft Cabinetry, a Nashville, Tenn.-based distributor of kitchen cabinets, to a 120,400-square-foot industrial lease at the REIT’s new 38-acre Liberty Business Center in Buford, a northeastern suburb of Atlanta. ProCraft Cabinetry will move into Building One, located at 3525 Gravel Springs Road, in June. Both of Liberty Business Center’s LEED Silver-certified buildings feature 50- by 54-foot column spacing, 32-foot clear heights, ESFR sprinkler systems and trailer parking. Matt Nelsen of Hughes Commercial Real Estate represented ProCraft Cabinetry, and Price Weaver and Lee Cardwell of Colliers International represented Liberty in the lease transaction.
INDEPENDENCE, KY. — The Kroger Co. has acquired Park 536, a 674,500-square-foot industrial property located at 251 Mt. Zion Road in Independence, a town in Kentucky roughly 13 miles south of Kroger’s hometown of Cincinnati. Kroger purchased the asset, which was built on a speculative basis, from VanTrust Real Estate for $33.8 million. Built in late 2016, Park 536 is situated on 45 acres and features 36-foot clear heights, 68 docks and 336 parking spaces. John Gartner III and Norm Khoury of Colliers International’s Cincinnati office represented VanTrust in the sale, and Brian Leonard of JLL represented Kroger, which plans to create nearly 100 new jobs at the facility and will move in upon building out the interior to its liking. The grocer will use Park 536 as a “replenishment center” for the company’s distribution centers in the eastern part of the United States.
BATH, PA. — Colliers International’s Allentown office has brokered the $1.7 million sale of a 39,064-square-foot industrial building on 6.3 acres located at 7 Allen St. in Bath. The buyer, Wade Property Holding Bath LLC, will use the facility as a furniture shipment location. Kelly Berfield and Ryan Dietrick of Colliers International represented the seller, Penn Bath Properties, in the transaction.
When Ross Perot Jr. broke ground on the world’s first industrial airport in north Fort Worth in 1988, even he didn’t realize what a big deal it would become. Named “Alliance” in recognition of the collaboration between Perot’s Hillwood, the city of Fort Worth and the Federal Aviation Administration, the project kicked off a development spree that now spans 18,000 acres. With the airport, a major intermodal yard, two Class I rail lines and a number of interconnecting highways, Alliance has had a profound impact on establishing the industrial real estate market in Fort Worth’s northern sector. The development is still going strong, but other firms such as Trammell Crow Co., IDI and Stream Realty Partners have joined the party with surrounding projects that build on Hillwood’s foundation. The latter recently completed work on a new 538,000-square-foot Northlake headquarters for Farmer Brothers Coffee, which includes a 125,000-square-foot roasting plant and 258,000-square-foot distribution center. Industrial development remains brisk in other areas of Fort Worth, too, most notably in Railhead Industrial Park, Mercantile Center and Carter Industrial Park, where Hunt Southwest is underway with a 657,000-square-foot spec project. This project follows a 301,500-square-foot facility the developer opened at the Riverbend West development …
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Trammell Crow Co. and joint venture partner PGIM Real Estate have begun construction on Phase II of 35-Eagle, a 106-acre industrial park located near Alliance Airport in north Fort Worth. Phase II will deliver three new buildings: a 1.1 million-square-foot cross-dock warehouse; a 312,654-square-foot rear-load warehouse; and a 233,961-square-foot cross-dock warehouse. Completion of all three buildings is scheduled for the fourth quarter. Phase I of the project delivered two Class A buildings totaling roughly 1.6 million square feet in the fourth quarter of 2016. Those properties are now 90 percent occupied.
HOUSTON — The Dupuy Group, a transport and logistics firm, has signed a 212,961-square-foot industrial lease at 3240 South Loop on Houston’s south side. The property features 5,175 square feet of office space, 30-foot clear heights, two drive-in doors and 19 rail doors. David Boyd of Boyd Commercial represented Dupuy in the lease negotiations. Kelly Landwermeyer of Holt Lunsford represented the landlord, CenterPoint Properties. The company has also renewed two leases at its nearby industrial facilities located at 7700 and 7703 Cannon St.
MENOMONEE FALLS AND WAUKESHA, WIS. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of two self-storage facilities in the greater Milwaukee area for $17 million. The Vault of Menomonee Falls and The Vault of Waukesha are located 15 miles from each other and approximately 20 miles from Milwaukee. The sales price is the highest on record for a self-storage portfolio in the Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis metropolitan statistical area, according to a news release. Built in 2016, The Vault of Menomonee Falls opened with a total of 451 units and 39,573 rentable square feet. Phase II construction will be completed over the next 12 months and will expand the property to a total of 80,230 net rentable square feet and 768 units. The Vault of Waukesha was built in 2014. The 582-unit facility expanded to 64,648 rentable square feet in 2015. Sean Delaney and Michael Mele of Marcus & Millichap represented the sellers, private investors, and procured the buyer, the publicly traded parent company of U-Haul.
CINCINNATI — NorthMarq Capital has arranged a $2.6 million loan for the acquisition of Crescentville Distribution Center in Cincinnati. The 83,679-square-foot facility is located at 500-518 Crescentville Road. Susan Branscome of NorthMarq arranged the 10-year loan, which includes a 25-year amortization schedule. A life insurance company provided the loan to the undisclosed borrower.
Similar to the past couple of years, it is difficult to identify one or two items to highlight about the Omaha industrial market. Although the most impressive improvement might be the amount of new construction starts in 2016, factors such as sales prices per square foot, number of overall transactions, average asking rents, vacancy rates, landlord concessions all trended in a favorable direction for owners of industrial properties. This has been a staggering year- over-year trend, which has led many industry professionals to ask the same question: Is the market becoming too hot? User-driven projects over 100,000 square feet were the highlight of 2016, with multiple large projects breaking ground. Those users included Thrasher Inc., a rapidly growing, Omaha-based basement waterproofing and foundation repair company, which broke ground on its 209,000-square-foot office and warehouse facility located near 120th Street and Valley Ridge Drive; and Oxbow Industries, a Murdock, Neb.-based manufacturer, that is working with a developer on a new 140,000-square-foot facility at 150th Street and Schram Road. However, new construction starts for large projects were not the only storyline. Companies including Rotella’s Italian Bakery (6949 S. 108th St.) and State Steel (13413 Centech Road) made notable expansions to their existing …
