Phoenix Investors Buys 5 MSF Portfolio

Frank Crivello, Chairman & Founder, Phoenix Investors. Image courtesy of Phoenix Investors

Phoenix Investors has purchased a 5 million-square-foot industrial portfolio and excess land sites totaling more than 600 acres in North Carolina and Mississippi. The seller is United Furniture Industries, which closed all its business operations in late 2022.

Following the acquisition, Phoenix Investors’ portfolio now includes more than 70 million square feet of industrial space across 29 states.

United’s plants and manufacturing facilities traded after the company’s $65 million bid gained final approval from U.S. Bankruptcy Court last week, according to the Winston-Salem Journal. The same source reveals that at least $27 million from the proposed sale price went toward properties situated in Winston-Salem, N.C., Lexington, N.C. and Trinity, N.C.

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The portfolio includes 13 industrial facilities and two land sites. Each building features a good infrastructure, yard space, docks and bumpers, as well as substantial gas, water and electric utilities. Most of these properties are also climate-controlled and rail serviced.

Some of the assets included in the portfolio are:

• United’s The Weeks manufacturing plant, totaling 705,599 square feet and sitting on 54 acres at 401 W. Hanes Mill Road in Winston-Salem. The three-building property is the largest former United plant and features 32-foot clear heights, 66 dock doors, ESFR sprinkler systems and a 30,000-square-foot office component.
• The Lexington plant, totaling 375,310 square feet at 100 United Furniture Drive, sits on 13 acres and includes 22-foot clear heights, 25 dock doors and rail access.
• The Trinity plant, a four-building property at 3761 Old Glenola Road, totaling 196,400 square feet on 55 acres and including 24-foot clear heights, 29 dock doors, 235 vehicle parking spots and 208 trailer parking spots.

Recent investments

Phoenix Investors is marketing the properties for sale and lease. The company plans to secure high-quality tenants for each facility, provide new jobs and help the host communities recover from United’s termination, Phoenix Investors’ Executive Vice President Anthony Crivello said in prepared remarks. The company’s Founder & Chairman Frank Crivello added that both North Carolina and Mississippi are states with a solid workforce pool and economic development fundamentals.

Phoenix Investors’ recent acquisitions include a 515,913-square-foot industrial facility sold by Blackstone Capital affiliate Piramidal Glass, in Park Hills, Mo., and a 365,640-square-foot facility in West Burlington, Iowa. In December 2022, the company picked up a former Goodyear plant totaling 3 million square feet in Gadsden, Ala. The plant was built in 1929 and was one of the largest tire manufacturing facilities in the world.