The transaction will close in November, bringing a high-ticket end to six months of talks spurred by Clarion's desire to beef up the industrial component of its multi-faceted portfolio, Stephen J. Furnary, Clarion Partners' chairman, tells GlobeSt.com. Clarion, acting for Netherlands-based ING Real Estate, went knocking on Crow's door to open the talks. Crow Holdings yesterday declined comment on the pending sale.

The industrial sector's strength throughout the recession was the temptation to seek more product. "We believe it will perform favorably from a return-performance point of view and we were under allocated," Furnary said. "It's a tremendous opportunity to increase our industrial concentrations." Clarion, which controls $7.5 billion of US property, does not gain any new markets with the buy, which naturally comes with some debt.

The 22-city Crow Holdings portfolio is 90% occupied, has leases with an average five-year term and consists of buildings with a median age of about 17 years. It also contains land that most definitely will be developed, Furnary said.