BRIDGEPORT, N.J. — Hillwood Investment Properties, a Perot company based in Dallas, has acquired a 597,232-square-foot warehouse and distribution building in Bridgeport. The acquisition was made in partnership with Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM).
Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors of Hartford, Conn., was the seller.
The building at 200 Birch Creek Road is situated in the Pureland Industrial Park near Exit 10 on Interstate 295. I-295 is southern New Jersey's primary North/South Highway, providing access to the entire Northeastern distribution corridor.
Emory Hill Development constructed the property in 1991 for Becton Dickenson & Co., a current tenant whose lease expires in 2013. The medical device maker will be consolidating its East Coast operations into another market.
The Bridgeport facility features 42-foot by 42-foot column spacing, 25-foot clear ceiling heights and two drive-in doors.
Michael Hines, Robert Fahey, Michael Blunt and Brad Ruppel of CBRE represented Cornerstone in the transaction.
Hines notes that Becton Dickinson's consolidation represented a unique opportunity for a value-add investor's first entrance into the southern New Jersey market. “The lack of efficient, flexibly designed bulk warehouse/distribution availabilities, particularly 500,000 square feet and larger, along the I-95 Industrial Corridor was apparent in the high level of interest in this offering,” says Hines.
Brookfield's stock price closed at $35.10 per share on Monday, up from $29.30 per share a year earlier.
— Liz Burlingame