GID, Ivanhoe Cambridge Launch Industrial Investment Platform

Longtime industrial player GID has launched an investment platform with global real estate investor Ivanhoé Cambridge, with an eye toward acquiring industrial assets across growth markets in the US.

GID Industrial will be led by Rene Circ and Mike Wenaas and will focus on acquiring, developing, and managing infill industrial product in locations near dense residential and employment regions. The company’s combined portfolio stands at 19 million square feet in 15 markets across the country, GID said in a statement announcing the launch.

“GID Industrial, with strong shared corporate values as well as a proven and seasoned management team, will complement our existing IDI Logistics big-box build-to-core strategy,” says Mario Morroni, EVP of Industrial, North America at Ivanhoé Cambridge. “Our partnership with GID is perfectly aligned with Ivanhoé Cambridge’s investment strategy and positions us to accelerate the execution of our urban infill light-industrial strategy in the US and continue to create value for our stakeholders in this highly competitive environment going forward.”

 In a statement, Circ, who serves Senior Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the new entity, said GID will target assets that benefit from the evolution of supply chains in light of booming online and e-commerce spending.

 “Supply chains that support online sales must evolve to accommodate the demand for faster delivery times, requiring more warehouse space closer to the consumer,”  Circ said.

 The executive team also includes CFO Michelle Mussafi, formerly of Colony Capital, and Portfolio Manager Gary Kroll, who has managed GID’s industrial investments for the last 20 years. GID’s squad of  investment professionals and asset managers will be based in Boston, Dallas, Chicago, Oakland, and Atlanta. 

 “Our team has spent significant time and resources investing in infill industrial real estate, long before it became an institutional asset class,” says Mike Wenaas, chief investment officer of GID Industrial. “The partnership with Ivanhoé Cambridge brings expertise, global relationships and capital to our investment strategy, accelerating our growth.”

Investment in the industrial sector has been particularly robust throughout the first quarter of this year, with investors snapping up major industrial portfolios and assets in the early part of the year. In February, Preylock Holdings acquired a three property distribution portfolio in Atlanta and Memphis totaling 2.2 million square feet in a deal with Core5 Industrial Partners at a value of $166.7 million.  In Seattle, CRG sold The Cubes at DuPont, a 1.6 million-square-foot asset for $221 million to Duke Realty. And on the West Coast, REIT Rexford Industrial acquired five industrial properties in Southern California for $72.2 million in deals that brought Rexford’s 2021 acquisition total to $95 million.