MINNEAPOLIS-Liberty Property Trust, based in Salisbury, MD, has purchased three distribution sites in the suburbs. The buildings in Rogers, Champlin and Eagan total about 450,000 square feet and were purchased from two separate sellers for $25 million.
Liberty bought the 147,160-square-foot Rogers Distribution Center from Artis REIT for $6.9 million, as well as the 81,329-square-foot Cedar Bluffs Business Center I in Eagan and the 221,750-square-foot Cardinal Health building in Champlin from Exeter Property Group for about $18 million.
Dave Jellison, senior vice president and city manager for Liberty, tells GlobeSt.com that the Rogers center was purchased because it is near another company project, Liberty Industrial Park at Diamond Lake. The company acquired 55 acres for the park last year, and sold 20 acres for MedLine to build a 300,000-square-foot facility. The rest will be graded out for two future buildings of about 225,000-square-feet each, Jellison says.
“This will get us in the market with some space to lease in a brand new, 32-foot building that was developed by AMB,” he says. “This should give us an idea of the depth of the market.” The Rogers center is 41% occupied by Blue Dot.
The Cardinal building, at 9000-109th Ave. North, was developed for the tenant in 1995. Cedar is 76.3% occupied by Simpson Strong Tie Co. “KBS REIT I had sold the two sites to Exeter as part of a seven-property portfolio, and Exeter didn’t want these sites, so we made an offer,” Jellison says.
He admits the Minneapolis industrial market has been flat, but says with nothing built since 2008, new 32-foot clear distribution centers should be in demand. “Companies will want to go with newer, more energy-efficient buildings here. We want to expand our footprint in the Twin Cities,” Jellison says. The company owns and manages about 4.2 million square feet of office, flex and industrial property in Minnesota in 54 major parks and buildings.
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