Top 5 Industrial Transactions

In the first three months of 2021, more than $8 billion of industrial transactions closed nationwide, according to CommercialEdge. While this was a decline from the same time the previous year, pricing jumped nearly 30 percent, as the asset class continues to draw leasing and investment demand.

Industrial markets both in and near gateway cities had the highest investment volume in the first quarter. Major individual transactions followed a similar breakdown, with the five largest deals all involving distribution centers within 30 miles of major population centers. The table below shows the largest five industrial sales in the first three months of 2021, based on data from CommercialEdge. 

5. 38 Porete Ave.

38 Porete Ave. Image via Google Earth

The fifth-largest industrial deal to close in the first quarter of the year was Property Reserve’s $120 million acquisition of 38 Porete Ave., a 139,255-square-foot FedEx Freight terminal in North Arlington, N.J. The sale price—$862 per square foot—far exceeds the market average of $277 for the 12 months ending in March.

The seller, Mana Group, had developed the property, delivering it in early 2018 after approximately 18 months of construction. The project was financed with a $66.4 million loan from Goldman Sachs. That loan was refinanced with an $89.9 million note from China Merchants Bank in April 2018, which was retired once the January 2021 sale closed. FedEx occupies the asset under a 20-year lease.

4. Elion Logistics Park 55 – 29901 S. Graaskamp Blvd.

Elion Logistics Park 55. Image via Google Earth

Transwestern’s $130 million sale of three buildings within Elion Logistics Park 55 in Wilmington, Ill., is the only industrial sale in the Midwest to make our list. Silver Creek Development was the buyer of the 2 million-square-foot property. Pacific Life Insurance Co. financed the purchase with a seven-year, $80 million loan.

The three structures were a build-to-suit project for occupier Michelin, which operates the facility as a distribution center. Combined, the buildings have 70 loading docks, five drive-in doors and expansive truck courts up to 220 feet. The full logistics park, master planned for up to 30 million square feet of industrial space, is linked to the region via adjacent rail lines and Interstate 55.

3. Hargrove Industrial Campus

Hargrove Industrial Campus. Image via Google Earth

Link Logistics purchased the 400,455-square-foot Hargrove Industrial Campus in Lanham, Md., located just 12 miles east of Washington, D.C., in January for $135 million. The seller, CGMG Development, delivered all three buildings around the time of the sale. The transaction accounted for more than half of the $235.7 million in industrial deals closed in the wider market through the end of the first quarter.

CGMG had financed the speculative development with a $56.2 million construction loan from EagleBank. The structures feature 32-foot clear heights and 111 loading docks. Iron Mountain is the largest tenant, occupying the 106,543-square-foot building at 4500 Hargrove Drive.

2. 4040 & 4210 W. 108th St.

4210 and 4040 W. 108th St. Image courtesy of CenterPoint

The largest industrial deal in Florida through the end of March was CenterPoint Properties’ $184 million acquisition of 4040 and 4210 W. 108th St. in Hialeah, just outside Miami. The two buildings delivered at the end of 2020, marking the market’s largest industrial completion of the year. The developer and seller, Florida East Coast Industries, financed the 1 million-square-foot project with a $98.7 million loan from Wells Fargo.

The Home Depot fully occupies both buildings. The larger of the two is a cross-dock facility spanning 715,428 square feet and offers 89 loading doors, nearly 20,000 square feet of office space and 190-foot truck courts. Both structures have 34-foot clear heights, and the 72.7-acre parcel includes nearly 500 parking spaces and 289 stalls for trailers.

1. 10Edison

10Edison. Image courtesy of Rockefeller Group

The largest industrial transaction through March of 2021 was Property Reserve’s $247 million acquisition of Rockefeller Group’s 10Edison, a 900,022-square-foot Amazon distribution facility in Edison, N.J. Delivered in December 2020, the cross-dock building replaced an ExxonMobil research lab that closed its doors in 2016.

The project broke ground in August 2019 as a speculative development, backed by $76.6 million from JPMorgan Chase. Amazon inked its lease in the second half of 2020 alongside the e-commerce titan’s nationwide expansion. The asset has 40-foot clear heights, 150 loading docks and more than 200 trailer parking spaces.