Canadian REIT Buys $69M US Portfolio

Granite Real Estate Investment Trust announced this week that it had purchased a portfolio of three properties from subsidiaries of Ingram Micro Inc. for $68.75 million. While representation or full terms of the deals were not disclosed, Granite did note in a press release that the investment would be funded with the company's line of credit and cash on hand.

The portfolio consists of two logistics distribution facilities in Plainfield, Indiana wit a total of 1,033,520 square feet of space (533,520 and 500,000 respectively), including a total of approximately 140,000 square feet of finished office space; the buildings were constructed in 2009 and 1999. In addition to the two Plainfield buildings, Granite REIT also agreed to purchase 29 acres of adjacent expansion/development land in the AllPoints Midwest Business Park, which provides for up to 585,000 square feet of additional new logistics - industrial space.

"The Indianapolis industrial market is on an absolute tear," commented Jason Tolliver, regional vice president in Cassidy Turley's Indianapolis office. "The traditional drivers of industrial space like housing, manufacturing and warehousing are solid, but the new engine of e-commerce has shifted the market into another gear. As a result, Indianapolis has emerged as one of the strongest markets in the US with some of the largest e-commerce deals completed anywhere in the country."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.

Warehouse Demand Off to Strongest Start Since 2008

A new article from CoStar titled Don't Look Now But Warehouse Demand Off to Strongest Start Since 2008 has been released, noting the strong start of the warehouse market in 2013 as the growing pace of construction remains in check with a demand for growth. A survey of transaction data by CoStar's Property & Portfolio Research shows warehouse supply and demand at its strongest levels in at least five years. An excerpt from the article follows:

"Speculative new construction is still not a threat to the ongoing recovery as it is still heavily concentrated in markets that also have strong demand, such as the Inland Empire, Phoenix, and more recently Memphis," said Rene Circ, director of U.S. research/industrial Property & Portfolio Research (PPR), a CoStar company.

"The industrial market is enjoying a recovery in line with historic trends," said Robert Bach, national director of market analytics for Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. "The leasing market is performing better than the investment market, only because it’s harder for investors to source industrial product to match their appetites."

"Housing has emerged from its recessionary slump and is once again driving demand for both warehouse and flex product," said Jason W. Tolliver, vice president of research, Cassidy Turley. "The manufacturing sector continued to expand in the first quarter, although the pace of growth seems to be slowing. Despite this, factory hiring has continued and this bodes well for future CRE demand."

For more news and information visit Blumberg Capital Partners.