BentallGreenOak Buys 575K SF Amazon-Leased Warehouse for $138M
In cash deal between insurance giants, MetLife sells East Bay facility to Sun Life.
The real estate arm of the Canadian insurance giant Sun Life Financial has purchased a 575K SF Amazon fulfillment center in the East Bay city of Newark, CA for $138M.
Toronto-based BentallGreenOak acquired the 29-acre property from owner New York-based Metropolitan Life Insurance, which leases the warehouse to Amazon in an all-cash deal, according to a report in the San Jose Mercury News. The transaction price translates into $240 per SF.
The fulfilment center is located 38811 Cherry Street in proximity to Interstate 880 and State Highway 84. The warehouse has a 32-foot clearance, 120 dock doors, and on-site parking for 175 trailers.
Demand for industrial space in the East Bay has been tight, with vacancies dropping below 4% in Q3 for the first time since 2018, according to a JLL market report.
Pre-leasing activity on under construction projects has been strong. Five of 12 projects in Q3 were preleased, including over 507K SF across three buildings in Hayward. Leasing activity in East Bay has come from a mix of tenants including 3PLs and advanced manufacturers, JLL reported.
There were only five available spaces over 250L SF in the market in Q3, one of which is still under construction by Bridge Industrial.
BentallGreenOak has been growing its US industrial portfolio since 2021. In May, the company bought a 175K SF Inland Empire warehouse for $83M—a deal that translates into $476 per SF, which at the time was nearly four times the average sale price for industrial properties in the US.
The Toronto firm purchased the property, located at 10380 Alder Avenue in the San Bernardino County city of Bloomington, from Dallas-based Stream Realty. Stream developed the warehouse on a nine-acre parcel it purchased in 2019 and completed construction of the facility in 2021.
In another deal with a huge price tag, in February of 2021, BentallGreenOak bought a 100K SF warehouse in Brooklyn for $46M, which translates into $460 per SF.
The facility at 2300 Linden Boulevard, leased to Amazon for 10 years, was sold by Turnbridge Equities and Harbor Group International.