Oxford, EverWest Form $1B Industrial JV

Sugar Land Crossroads in Sugar Land, Texas, one of the six properties already acquired by Oxford and EverWest. Image courtesy of Oxford Properties Group

Oxford Properties Group is accelerating its U.S. infill industrial portfolio growth with the formation of a joint venture with EverWest Real Estate Investors that plans to acquire and develop approximately $1 billion in assets across major high-growth markets.

The partnership will target a mix of core-plus, value-add investments and developments consisting of infill, small-bay properties near urban centers, well-positioned to meet increasing demand for fulfillment needs close to the final customer base.

The joint venture has already made six acquisitions totaling more than 1.1 million square feet. The properties total $160 million and are located in the Denver; San Diego; Phoenix; Houston; Portland, Ore.; and Nashville, Tenn., markets.

Oxford, a Toronto-based global real estate investor and asset manager owned by a Canadian pension plan, will provide the primary source of capital and drive overall strategy. EverWest, a real estate advisor headquartered in Denver with regional offices in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Charlotte, N.C., will lead the acquisitions and run day-to-day operations at each asset.

Growing US platform

Pointing to some of Oxford’s recent high-profile deals in the industrial sector, Ankit Bhatt, vice president of investments for the company, said the EverWest joint venture is one of multiple avenues the company is using to expand its overall U.S. industrial business. Oxford has invested across three main U.S. logistics verticals in recent years: big box, infill light industrial and niche/alternatives.

The EverWest partnership will complement the recently completed $2.2 billion transaction with KKR. In August, Oxford agreed to purchase a 14.5 million-square-foot collection of 149 infill and light industrial assets from KKR located in 12-key industrial markets across the U.S. including the Inland Empire, Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago, Houston, Tampa, Orlando, San Diego and the Baltimore-Washington corridor.

Other Oxford U.S. logistics investments include acquiring leading big-box platform IDI Logistics with Ivanhoe Cambridge for $3.5 billion in January 2019. Last year, Oxford became a significant investor in Lineage Logistics, the world’s leading cold storage logistics provider, by committing $360 million. The company was among several investors providing $1.6 billion in new equity to Lineage.

EverWest investments

In recent months, EverWest has been active in New York City and New Jersey. In September, the company purchased a 70,500-square-foot logistics asset in Flushing, Queens, for $57.3 million. The 2.9-acre property is situated near the intersection of interstates 278 and 495, a good location for last-mile distribution.

Also in September, EverWest and joint venture partner Woodmont Properties acquired a 31-acre site in Somerset, N.J., with plans to redevelop the property into an industrial campus with two Class A warehouse/distribution buildings totaling 426,000 square feet. The same firms teamed up earlier this year to acquire a 144,551-square-foot distribution facility in South Brunswick, N.J., in a $20 million sale-leaseback deal.