Carlton originated and closed the 80% leveraged loan after September 11, with an unnamed Manhattan-based source providing the funding. "Using our banking relationships," Campbell tells GlobeSt.com, "we were able to close the requested financing without any significant deal changes."

The partners in the acquisition and loan transactions "do not wish to be identified," according to Campbell, who describes them as "two of the largest private real estate families in the country. Combined, they own more than 20 million sf of industrial space, as well as a variety of other commercial properties."

Seller Curtiss-Wright, which was represented by Grubb & Ellis in the sale transaction, had used the sprawling asset for many years to make and test jet engines for the military. But the company closed that operation down some 20 years ago and subsequently turned the site into a multi-tenant industrial complex, which it continued to own.