Blackstone Sells 1.2 MSF Warehouse Portfolio

Aerial view of Sealy & Co.’s Greenville, S.C., Portfolio. Image courtesy of Sealy & Co.

Sealy & Co has made its largest deal of the year acquiring an eight-building, 1.2 million-square-foot industrial portfolio in Greenville, S.C., from Blackstone for an undisclosed price. The properties are all fully leased warehouse and distribution buildings in the Greenville-Spartanburg industrial market along the I-85 corridor.

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The purchase comes weeks after the Dallas-based firm acquired a 197,767-square-foot distribution warehouse in Covington, La., leased to Medline Industries, a large medical supplies manufacturer and distributor. According to Tammany Parish records, Sealy & Co. bought the building from the tenant. That property is about 42 miles from downtown New Orleans and within an hour’s drive of the Port of New Orleans.

The new portfolio in South Carolina has excellent accessibility to the nearby BMW manufacturing plant, the Greenville Airport and the Inland Port, which offers overnight freight shipping from the Port of Charleston. It is fully leased to a strong roster of national and international organizations attracted to the strong market demographics. The region’s population continues to grow, making it the second fastest-growing metro in South Carolina and 19^th in the U.S.

Sealy & Co.’s Greenville, S.C., Portfolio. Image courtesy of Sealy & Co.

The Greenville-Spartanburg portfolio acquisition marks Sealy & Co.’s first purchase in South Carolina and the second largest in company history. The firm had previously focused mainly on properties in Texas and Northern Louisiana but has been expanding its investment reach. The company now has properties in 12 major target markets: Dallas; Atlanta; Houston; Greenville, S.C.; Oklahoma City; St. Louis; Memphis, Tenn.; Shreveport, La.; Kansas City, Mo.; Columbus, Ohio; Baton Rouge, La.; and Lexington, Ky. The company continues to rapidly expand into attractive markets and has grown its investment portfolio fourfold in just two years. Most of its holdings are in Dallas and Memphis and now Greenville.

Sealy teamwork cited

The deal was led by Chief Investment Officer Scott Sealy Jr. and Jason Gandy, managing director of investment services. They were supported by Senior Analyst Christopher Martin. The team worked closely with Trey Barry of CBRE National Partners to purchase the assets from Blackstone.

Sealy Chief Operating Officer Rick Czerwinski said in a prepared statement the Investment Services Team has been tenacious in executing acquisitions including sourcing, underwriting, negotiating and closing in one of the most competitive investment environments he has experienced in his career.