CHICAGO—W. P. Carey Inc., a New York-based REIT, has just purchased from Exeter Property Group an 824,624-square-foot distribution facility in south suburban University Park for about $48 million. Located at 300 Central Ave. and leased to a subsidiary of the J.M. Smucker Co., the buy is just the latest big purchase by W.P. Carey or its affiliates of top industrial product net-leased to high credit companies.
Earlier this year, GlobeSt.com reported, for example, that CPA®:18 – Global, a non-traded REIT affiliate of Carey, completed an $85 million acquisition of the giant Dart Container/Solo Cup National Distribution Center located just down the street at 701 Central Ave. At 1,552,475-square feet, it was the largest Chicago-area transaction involving corporate distribution space since early 2006.
Properties acquired by W.P. Carey typically are the most modern, up-to-date facilities with long-term leases to companies that consider the assets critical to their operations. The Smuckers building is no exception. The original 575,024-square-foot structure was finished in 2008. In 2013, Exeter expanded the facility, which has 32' clear height, by 249,600-square-feet. And it is one of only six distribution centers operated by Smuckers in the US.
"This investment represented an opportunity to acquire a new class A logistics facility that serves as a primary distribution center for all of Smuckers' varied products,” according to W. P. Carey managing director and co-head of global investments Gino Sabatini.
"Chicago's South Suburban submarket—which includes 71-million-square-feet of industrial warehouse space and has a general vacancy rate of 10.8%—has a diverse inventory of big-box distribution and manufacturing facilities and has seen a steady increase in activity as the market as a whole continues to improve," he adds.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
