CHICAGO — Chicago-based Equity Capital Management (ECM) has entered into an agreement to sell a portfolio of net-leased office, industrial and retail properties for $625 million. The buyer or buyers were not disclosed, but reports indicate the portfolio was sold to two parties, an institutional firm and a REIT. The portfolio contains properties that are a part of two ECM investment funds: Diversified Income & Growth Fund and Income & Growth Fund III.
The properties in the poirtfolio are institutional quality and subject to long-term leases. A majority of them are office and industrial buildings comprising corporate/regional headquarters as well as regional/critical hub distribution facilities. The tenants are primarily investment grade. The portfolio is expected to close during the first half of the year.
“The corporate real estate market is a large, fragmented and growing market,” said Shelby E. L. Pruett, co-founder and managing partner of the company, in a statement. “Corporations and build-to-suit developers have reduced access to capital, and the investment-grade net-lease sector is underrepresented in the public and private markets, all of which we believe will create significant opportunities in the future.”
— Coleman Wood