"We had some pretty strong activity, just not at a level that was acceptable," Kirk Jenkins, an executive vice president and principal with GVA Daum Commercial Real Estate Services in Phoenix, tells GlobeSt.com. "We started entertaining offers from Pepsi in October of last year. They have a 25-acre manufacturing plant east of this property so it was a natural growth plan."

The Somers, NY-based Pepsi Bottling Group entered a 45-day escrow period in April with Sea Ray parent Brunswick Corp. of Lake Forest, IL, which was represented by Jenkins and Daum's Skip Corley Jr. Prior to Pepsi's involvement, the majority of offers on the property came from investors, which would have lowered the price. The seller decided to sit tight for the right owner-operator to come along. Pepsi, which closed below the ask, got a facility directly west of its existing operation at 4242 E. Raymond St., Jenkins adds.

Built between the 1970s and 1997, the 10.3-acre development sits at 4140 E. Raymond St.. It consists of a 105,846-sf building with dock-high and ground-level loading and 13,446 sf of office space. A 41,905-sf building sits next door, boasting oversize truck doors and up to 24-foot clear height. Sea Ray, which built boats up to 27 feet long in the facility, moved out in January 2001 and consolidated its manufacturing operations at the Knoxville, TN, headquarters.