Why This Investor Is Focusing on L.A.

Liberty Property Trust is turning its acquisition focus to L.A. While the industrial REIT has owned properties in Southern California for four years, it is looking to increase its exposure to the market. Since September 2017, the firm has acquired four industrial properties in the greater L.A. area, including a 400,000-square-foot facility in the City of Commerce for $92 million. To find out more about the firm’s L.A. strategy, we sat down with Erin Plourde, VP of Acquisitions at Liberty Property Trust, for an interview.

GlobeSt.com: You have done four industrial transactions in the Southern California market since September. Why are you looking to increase your exposure in Southern California?

Erin Plourde: We entered the market a little more that four years ago now when we bought a larger portfolio from Cabot. That gave us 600,000-square feet in this market. As a company, we have been shifting our focus. We were an office and an industrial REIT, and we have been shifting that focus to be a true industrial player. In order to do that, we have been selling some of our suburban office and growing it on the industrial side. As a large industrial REIT, we knew that we needed to be in some of those major industrial markets, which includes Southern California. That is why it has been a focus for us recently to continue to grow out here.