Largest Single Industrial Asset in Florida Trades for $70M in Sale-Leaseback Deal
With the sale-leaseback agreement, Transformco, the parent company of Kmart and Sears, continues to occupy the property to operate its main distribution center for the entire Southeast US that support Sears, Kmart, and Hometown stores.
OCALA, FL—HFZ Reich of New York City has acquired the nearly 2-million-square-foot Transformco Distribution Center here in a sale-leaseback transaction valued at $70 million.
The 1,937,892-square-foot Transformco Distribution Center at 655 SW 52nd Ave. in Ocala is Florida’s largest single-building industrial asset, according to brokerage firm Avison Young.
With the sale-leaseback agreement, Transformco, the parent company of Kmart and Sears, continues to occupy the property to operate its main distribution center for the entire Southeast US that support Sears, Kmart, and Hometown stores.
Avison Young principal and Miami managing director Michael T. Fay; principals Jay A. Ziv, CCIM, SIOR, ALC; John K. Crotty, CCIM; and David Duckworth; VP Brian C. de la Fé; associate Berkley Bloodworth and associate Emily Brais negotiated the sale on behalf of Transform Holdco.
“Our acquisition of the Transform-Innovel Distribution Center marks a major milestone for HFZ-Reich, expanding our portfolio to encompass 10 million square feet of industrial properties throughout the United States. We are excited to be entering the Ocala industrial market as it provides a major opportunity to be at the center of one of the country’s largest distribution centers,” says Ziel Feldman, chairman and founder of HFZ Capital Group.
HFZ-Reich is a partnership between HFZ Capital Group, a leading Manhattan-based developer and investment firm and Reich Brothers, a New York-based real estate firm with more than 25 years of experience purchasing, retrofitting, and managing Industrial real estate. The acquisition is a major addition to HFZ-Reich’s national portfolio of industrial properties, the company reports.
“Industrial continues to be the hottest asset type for investment in Florida, with Ocala standing out due to its quick access to every major market in the state as well as Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama,” says Avison Young’s Fay. “The Distribution Center offered Reich Brothers the opportunity to acquire a substantial, in-demand, cash-flow property in Central Florida.”
Despite new construction, Central Florida’s distribution market maintains a vacancy rate in the low single-digits. In addition to Transformco, major distribution users in Ocala include ClosetMaid, Chewy, AutoZone, FedEx, and several others. Less than five minutes from Interstate 75, the Sears Distribution Center is within a four-hour drive time of 14 million people, the brokerage firm notes.
The sale/leaseback deal brings Avison Young’s Capital Markets Group’s investment sales closed in the past 60 days alone to more than $300 million