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ROMULUS, MI-LePage's 2000 recently purchased a 346,000-sf warehouse/distribution center at 12900 Huron River Dr. from MTC Associates, a private investment group. The Ontario-based buyer plans to use the facility for its Midwest operations base. LePage's 2000 manufactures national brand, high-end private label tape, packaging materials and stationary products.

The transaction was the largest warehouse/distribution user sale reported in Metro Detroit in 2006, according to Grubb & Ellis Co. Grubb's Jim McClowry, senior vice president, and Dan Labes, senior vice president, represented both parties in the transaction. Although the sale price was not released, a Grubb spokeswoman says the asking price for the property was $32 per sf, or about $11 million.

The facility formerly housed Michelin Tire, Ford Motor Co.'s glass division and Visteon Corp. The asking lease rate for the building is $3.75 per sf triple net. "This sale represents a significant absorption of vacant space in the warehouse distribution market surrounding Detroit Metropolitan Airport," McClowry says in a statement. "This is just one example of non-automotive companies stabilizing the market even as the auto industry downsizes."