Three of the properties are located in Milwaukee and four are located in Elgin, IL. Tenants include Federal Express, General Electric, Northwest Mutual Life and Baxter International.

"We continue to view the industrial sector as an attractive core holding for real estate investors," says Jeb Belford, a senior director at ING Clarion Partners. "Chicago is one of the largest and most strategically located warehouse markets in the country, while Milwaukee is a solid industrial market that should benefit from the strengthening economy."

"We continue to see strong demand for stabilized industrial assets in Chicago as evidenced by this and other recent portfolio sales," adds Michael Mullen, CenterPoint's CEO. Proceeds of the sale will be redeployed into other investment opportunities. CenterPoint is a publicly traded REIT that, as of Sept. 30, owned or operated approximately 37 million sf. In Late December, the company said it would add approximately three million sf to that total with the purchase of eight buildings in the Chicago area from HSA Commercial Real Estate for $96 million. That deal is expected to close sometime this month.

Late last week as an expansion of its $18-billion Lion Industrial Trust, ING acquired Atlanta-based MD Hodges Enterprises Inc. for $440 million. Blackstone Realty Advisors was the seller of the 13 million sf of industrial space. For additional information, go to ING Clarion Takes 13M-SF Industrial Portfolio for $440M. GlobeSt.com also reported that Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust and Clarion Lion Properties Fund are forming a joint venture to invest in $450 million worth of community shopping centers in the Southeast and Midwest US.