They made no mistakes in closing an 86,974-sf, 10-year industrial leasing transaction this week for Dallas-based PrimeSource Building Products Inc. at AMB Property Corp.'s 15-year-old, 129,000-sf bulk warehouse site in Orlando Central Park.

The deal had to be done within three months. It closed in two months. Typical transactions take six months or more, veteran brokers tell GlobeSt.com.

The estimated $3.5 million deal brought AMB's south Orlando two-tenant building to 100% occupancy and relieved the pressure on PrimeSource. The Texas company had to vacate its three-building, 47,000-sf warehouse complex off Silver Star Road in west Orlando by June 25.

PrimeSource starts moving in to the AMB building next week. The anatomy of this deal, although not huge in lease value or leased space, underscores the urgency in some commercial transactions and how it is handled.

"We were fortunate in being able to find a buyer fairly quickly for PrimeSource's 4.9-acre property in west Orlando, but part of that deal with the new owner was that PrimeSource had to be out of there at a certain date or the deal was off," Rich Cavano, senior broker at Bartlett Group, tells GlobeSt.com.

Cavano knew McRae represented San Francisco-based AMB in metro Orlando and contacted the Crow broker to see what he had on the shelf.

"It was almost as if the AMB building was waiting for PrimeSource to arrive," McRae tells GlobeSt.com. "With ceiling heights of 22 feet to 26 feet and a truck court with a 125-foot turnaround, this property on Presidents Drive seemed to fit all or most of PrimeSource's requirements."

The average asking bulk warehouse space is $3.50 per sf to $5 per sf in the south Orlando submarket and a rent deal was struck quickly.

But there was still considerable paperwork to be handled between AMB's San Francisco headquarters and PrimeSource's regional offices in Chicago before it was a done deal. The clock, meanwhile, was ticking as the June 25 deadline loomed.

"We were very lucky in this situation to have John (McRae) working this deal because he is considered an expert in reviewing various legal clauses in leases," Cavano says. "The fast cooperation we received from AMB and Trammell Crow pushed this deal through ahead of deadline."

Crow's McRae says the deal was done in record time only because AMB is "a very customer-friendly landlord." He says, "When dealing with a quality tenant like PrimeSource Building Products, they want to make sure they make a good impression because there will likely be other opportunities to work together in other markets."

For AMB, landing PrimeSource meant filling space that had been vacant for five months and providing estimated gross annual rent revenue of a half million dollars. Southern Furniture Transport, PrimeSource's neighbor, has been leasing 42,026 sf for several years.

AMB is the largest industrial property owner in the 4,200-acre Orlando Central Park, the largest and oldest business park in Central Florida. AMB owns 1.8 million sf of bulk distribution product at OCP, most of it acquired from Boston-based Cabot Partners about five years ago. McRae has handled 342,000 sf of leasing deals for AMB in the last three months alone at the park.

As of March 31, 2001, AMB owned, managed and had renovation and development projects totaling 93 million sf and 998 buildings in 27 metropolitan markets.

AMB targets high throughput distribution properties--industrial assets located in major distribution markets near airports, seaports and ground transportation systems.

AMB's directors on Tuesday declared a regular cash dividend for the quarter ending June 30 of 39 ½ cents per share of common stock, payable on July 16 to holders of record on July 5.

The company's common on the New York Stock Exchange closed Wednesday at $24.70, up .04%. The stock's 52-week high-low range is $26.06 to $22.

Instant Insights /

GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Crow, Bartlett Fast-Track 87,000-SF Industrial Deal

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