Liberty Property Trust is turning its acquisition focus to L.A. While the industrial REIT has owned properties in Southern California for four years, it is looking to increase its exposure to the market. Since September 2017, the firm has acquired four industrial properties in the greater L.A. area, including a 400,000-square-foot facility in the City of Commerce for $92 million. To find out more about the firm's L.A. strategy, we sat down with Erin Plourde, VP of Acquisitions at Liberty Property Trust, for an interview.
GlobeSt.com: You have done four industrial transactions in the Southern California market since September. Why are you looking to increase your exposure in Southern California?
Erin Plourde: We entered the market a little more that four years ago now when we bought a larger portfolio from Cabot. That gave us 600,000-square feet in this market. As a company, we have been shifting our focus. We were an office and an industrial REIT, and we have been shifting that focus to be a true industrial player. In order to do that, we have been selling some of our suburban office and growing it on the industrial side. As a large industrial REIT, we knew that we needed to be in some of those major industrial markets, which includes Southern California. That is why it has been a focus for us recently to continue to grow out here.
GlobeSt.com: Do the last four transactions represented a more accelerated or aggressive acquisition activity here?
Plourde: It is a little more accelerated. We as a company tried to tie some of our cash flow needs together, so we had a lot of sales on the office side and we paired those with some acquisitions on the industrial side for 1031 purposes.
GlobeSt.com: What submarkets in Southern California have you focused on?
Plourde: We have been trying to focus on the South Bay right near the ports, as well as Central L.A. and Mid-Counties, although we don't own anything there right now, and then, the Inland Empire. That corridor down from the ports has really been our focus.
GlobeSt.com: Tell me more about your most recent acquisition in Commerce, and why this fit your strategy.
Plourde: Normally in that area, buildings are a little smaller, so we like that this was on the larger side. It is a little more than 400,000 square feet. It has a great tenant there with OnTrac, and they just extended their term. The building is class-A and has all of the characteristics of a class-A building in an infill market. We are a long-term holder, so we try to find assets that are going to stand the test of time, and we felt this one had those qualities.
GlobeSt.com: Are you looking to grow your portfolio here this year?
Plourde: We are continuing to look for opportunities. We don't have anything signed up as of now, but we will continue to look in those same markets. We are trying to focus a little more inland, so we hope to be more active in Central L.A.
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Kelsi Maree Borland
