CHARLOTTE, N.C. — CBRE Capital Markets has arranged $58 million in financing for an eight-property, 1.6 million-square-foot industrial portfolio located in Charlotte. The portfolio is 100 percent leased and comprises warehouse and distribution facilities. Hal Kempson and Compton Newman of CBRE’s Charlotte office arranged the loan on behalf of Beacon Partners, which is using the loan to refinance the portfolio. TIAA-CREF provided the 15-year loan at a fixed interest rate.
JESSUP, MD. — A joint venture between Columbia, Md.-based Manekin LLC and Boston-based AEW Capital Management has purchased the 60-acre Baltimore Washington Logistics Center. The 730,000-square-foot property is located at 7600 Assateague Drive in Jessup, roughly halfway between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. The Baltimore Business Journal reports that the joint venture, named MCA Assateague JV LLC, purchased the facility for $45.3 million from Madison-SP Assateague LLC, a joint venture between New York Life Real Estate Investors and Mosaic Realty Partners. The facility was formerly occupied by Giant Food and was used as the grocer’s main dry-goods warehouse until 2013. In addition to expanding the existing building by 120,000 square feet, the new ownership plans to speculatively develop an additional 160,000-square-foot industrial building on the site. Once the expansion is complete, the site will still be able to accommodate at least 400 trailer parking spaces, which is one of the largest counts in the region. Manekin LLC’s Owen Rouse and John Graham put the deal together as investment advisors and also represented the ownership group in the acquisition, while Cris Abramson and Brian Kruger with Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller. The new ownership has selected Michael Elardo, Jared Ross and …
A trifecta shaped by six years of a bull market, historically low interest rates and oil around $50 a barrel is benefitting one business sector arguably more than any other industry in the United States: automotive. Researcher AutoData Corp. estimates that, seasonally adjusted, the annual vehicle sales rate topped 17.1 million in March of this year, indicating the industry is on pace to have its best year in more than a decade. Further, the industry’s 5.6 percent sales increase in the first quarter has come entirely on gains of sales of trucks and sport-utility vehicles, two categories that do well when gas prices are low. Ford Motor Co. is forecasting that between 17 million and 17.5 million light vehicles — from all automakers — will be sold in the United States this year. The estimate is similar to competitor estimates. If it comes to pass, 2015 would be the best year for unit sales since 2006. Approximately 16.5 million cars and light trucks were sold nationally in 2014, according to AutoData. Consequently, it has been shocking to see how quickly so many vacant Detroit industrial buildings have been occupied in such a short period of time. Vacancy Rates Tumble The …
WINDSOR, CONN. — Sentry Commercial has arranged the acquisition of an industrial warehouse facility located at 1050 Kennedy Blvd. in Windsor. TELLING Industries purchased the 83,736-square-foot property for $1.4 million. The buyer is a metal framing and accessory manufacturing company headquartered in Ohio with locations in Arizona and Arkansas.
HUDSON, MASS. — The Stubblebine Company/CORFAC International and The Garibaldi Group have brokered the sale of an industrial service and repair building located at 2 Fox Road in Hudson. John McCarthy of NRT Bus purchased the 16,800-square-foot property for $1.2 million from DRS Power Technologies. Built in 1994, the property features 4,000 square feet of office and support space, heavy power and large drive-in doors. David Stubblebine and James Stubblebine of The Stubblebine Company, along with Chuck Bower of The Garibaldi Group, represented the seller, while Joe Aho of O’Brien Commercial Properties represented the buyer in the transaction.
TUSTIN, CALIF. – AutoCrib has purchased a 58,000-square-foot warehouse and manufacturing facility in Tustin. The facility is located at 2882 Dow Ave. The industrial vending machine software writer and manufacturer was previously operating out of three separate buildings. The acquisition was financed with a 20-year, fixed-rate Small Business Administration 504 loan that was arranged by Jennifer Davis of TMC Financing. The total project cost $7.7 million. AutoCrib’s commercial lender is Pacific Premier Bank.
LOS ANGELES – UCP Wheels for Humanity has purchased a 10,775-square-foot industrial facility in the Los Angeles submarket of Chatsworth for $1.7 million. The facility is located at 9509 Vassar Ave. The organization recycles, rebuilds and manufactures wheelchairs and other mobility aids for individuals in developing countries. UCP will be relocating from nearby North Hollywood in September. The company was represented by Jay Rubin of Lee & Associates-LA North/Ventura. The seller, a private trust, was represented by Stu Leibsohn and Bruce Simpson of Delphi Business Properties.
CARY, ILL. — Marcus & Millichap brokers sale of an industrial building located at 675 Industrial Drive in Cary, a city northwest of Chicago. A private investor acquired the property for $1 million from an individual/private trust. Built in 1989, the 53,944-square-foot property features 18-foot clear ceiling heights, a finished 1,800-square-foot mezzanine level and a full sprinkler system. At the time of sale, the property was vacant. Tammy Saia of Marcus & Millichap represented both parties in the transaction.
The industrial market had a notable year in 2014. Vacancy declined 270 basis points from the first quarter of 2014 where nearly 1 million square feet of space was absorbed. It has been more than seven years since absorption has registered similar figures. The primary factor driving last year’s success was a handful of large deals with more than 50,000 square feet. The supply of larger, quality spaces was steadily leased up throughout the year. These accounted for 54 percent, or 522,000 square feet, of absorbed space. Market velocity slowed down during the fourth quarter, driven by a lack of quality inventory. Absorption registered a positive 103,000 square feet, and was the lowest quarterly level of 2014. The centrally located North I-25 submarket outshined all other submarkets. In the biggest deal of the quarter, Flagship Foods occupied nearly 79,000 square feet of space in the North I-25 submarket. There were also nine other spaces occupied in this submarket that contributed another 60,000 square feet of absorption. A developing concern for 2015 is the significant amount of new available space being brought to market. Although still occupied, a total of 244,000 square feet of new space was added to the inventory …
CHANDLER, ARIZ. — A trio of FedEx Ground distribution centers has received $52 million in acquisition financing. The portfolio includes a 312,539-square-foot facility in Chandler, Ariz., a 254,353-square-foot facility in Spartanburg, S.C., and a 151,088-square-foot facility in Wichita Falls, Texas. The borrower was TIC – RI Pullman LLC, RI Cascade LLC, RI Elk Grove LLC (Rood TICs). The portfolio acquisition satisfied a 1031 exchange. The properties received $31.2 million, $12.2 million and $8.6 million, respectively. Financing was arranged by Todd B. Harding and Mick Stapleton of NBS Financial Services. It was provided by State Farm Insurance Company through the firm’s correspondent relationship. The loans featured 10-year terms with 30-year amortization schedules.
