Bill Hankowsky, chairman and chief executive officer of Liberty Property Trust (Photo composite)
WAYNE, PA—Continuing its planned pivot to a singular focus on industrial properties, Liberty Property Trust says it disposed of suburban office properties near Philadelphia, while acquiring industrial assets in Southern California and financing of an industrial portfolio in the United Kingdom.
“We made a decision a number of years ago to become a major industrial player nationally,” Liberty's CEO William Hankowsky said earlier this month at the Urban Land Institute of Philadelphia's Real Estate Outlook meeting. “We really didn't have a footprint to be an effective national operator, so we have worked over the last several years to increase that both that scale of that platform and the geography of that platform.”
Liberty sold five office properties totaling 335,866 square feet in Malvern, PA for $45.8 million. The properties consist of: 100 Chesterfield Parkway, 600 Chesterfield Parkway, 700 Chesterfield Parkway, 14 Lee Boulevard, and 12-16 Great Valley Parkway. Liberty executed $795.2 million in sales in 2018.
Liberty purchased two industrial properties totaling 447,570 square feet in Southern California for $60.2 million. The properties consist of 15025 Proctor Avenue, a fully-occupied, 128,581 square foot property in City of Industry, CA, and 520 E. Orange Show Road in San Bernardino, a 318,989 square foot development property acquired vacant.
Liberty's in-service Southern California portfolio is 100% occupied. Liberty purchased $496.7 million in industrial properties in 2018.
“As we close out the year, Liberty has successfully executed on our strategy to reallocate capital from office to our growing industrial business,” says Mike Hagan, Liberty's chief investment officer. “We have also secured permanent financing at very favorable terms on our UK industrial portfolio.”
In conjunction with Liberty's previously announced £111 million acquisition of a 1.1 million square foot industrial portfolio in October, Liberty has financed a portfolio of 13 industrial properties located in the UK with a £129.5 million, 10-year, interest-only loan at 2.64%. This loan was used to repay short-term borrowings used to fund seven of the 13 properties acquired in October, as well as portions of Liberty's existing UK industrial portfolio.
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Steve Lubetkin
Steve Lubetkin is the New Jersey and Philadelphia editor for GlobeSt.com. He is currently filling in covering Chicago and Midwest markets until a new permanent editor is named. He previously filled in covering Atlanta. Steve’s journalism background includes print and broadcast reporting for NJ news organizations. His audio and video work for GlobeSt.com has been honored by the Garden State Journalists Association, and he has also been recognized for video by the New Jersey Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He has produced audio podcasts on CRE topics for the NAR Commercial Division and the CCIM Institute. Steve has also served (from August 2017 to March 2018) as national broadcast news correspondent for CEOReport.com, a news website focused on practical advice for senior executives in small- and medium-sized companies. Steve also reports on-camera and covers conferences for NJSpotlight.com, a public policy news coverage website focused on New Jersey government and industry; and for clients of StateBroadcastNews.com, a division of The Lubetkin Media Companies LLC. Steve has been the computer columnist for the Jewish Community Voice of Southern New Jersey, since 1996. Steve is co-author, with Toronto-based podcasting pioneer Donna Papacosta, of the book, The Business of Podcasting: How to Take Your Podcasting Passion from the Personal to the Professional. You can email Steve at [email protected].
