While the Prime Group Realty Trust portfolio acquisition has yet to close, CenterPoint Properties Trust has closed on $231 million in sales this year. The most recent sales, all to a private investor, included 10 properties scattered throughout the Chicago market.

Watson Pharma's building, expected to be completed in the spring, will account for nearly a quarter of the potential 1.08 million sf of space at CenterPoint Business Center-Gurnee, located on I-94 across from Six Flags Great America in a Lake County submarket where industrial development opportunities are scarce. However, the building will be expandable by another 100,000 sf. CB Richard Ellis' Keith Puritz, Brett Kroner and Bill Frain represented Watson Pharma, Inc. in negotiations with Michael P. Murphy, senior vice president of development at CenterPoint Properties Trust.

The recently-closed portfolio sale originally included two other properties totaling 400,000 sf, which would have generated an additional $25 million in gross proceeds. "This bulk sale was motivated by the accelerated build-to-suit, redevelopment and investment activity in the 1.3-billion-square-foot Chicago industrial property market," says co-chairman and chief executive officer John S. Gates Jr. "The heart of CenterPoint's business model is the consistent redeployment of capital from dispositions into new investments where we can add more value."

The sale forces CenterPoint Properties Trust to change its earnings per share and funds from operations projections for the year and third quarter. The new numbers are expected in late September.