PHILADELPHIA-A real estate fund managed by BlackRock Realty Advisors has acquired the 165,000-sf industrial building on 20.4 acres at 13500 Roosevelt Blvd. The building is fully leased by SPD Technologies, a division of L3 Communications Corp., a Fortune 500 company. Dallas-based PNL Asset Funding LLC was the seller.

"The offering attracted a large number of qualified investors and the marketing process achieved a benchmark pricing in the market," says Daniel Levitan, PNL's SVP, in a statement. Both he and Steve Marzullo, SVP of the capital markets group in the local office of Trammell Crow Co., declined to disclose the selling price. Marzullo and Nick Harris in the TCC office here and John Alvarado, SVP in TCC's Dallas office, negotiated the transaction for PNL with an in-house representative of BlackRock.

On condition of anonymity, an area industrial broker tells GlobeSt.com the trade was probably at the $65-per-sf level, which would put the price at above $10.5 million. Year-end 2005 data from Colliers Lanard & Axilbund and CB Richard Ellis puts the average sale price for industrial product in Philadelphia County at $35.88 per sf and $50 per sf, respectively, and CBRE reports double-digit price increases for industrial product here for the past two years.

Acknowledging that the price was "well in excess of the average," Marzullo says, "it's a specialty building that commands a higher rent rate than the typical warehouse property. The GlobeSt.com source says the rate is probably north of $4.50 per sf.

The building contains 138,000 sf of assembly plant area and 26,000 sf of office and cafeteria space. Marzullo says SPD has occupied it since its construction in 1985, "and the buyer is comfortable with the creditworthiness of the tenant and its long history in a property that suits its special needs. In addition, zoning permits 50% building coverage, which allows for significant potential expansion and flexibility for future tenancy."

Marzullo says that while the zoning would allow for up to 450,000 sf on the entire parcel, SPD utilizes more parking and landscaping than the typical industrial facility and also has security requirements. "If L3 needs more space, the parcel could accommodate at least a 100,000-sf expansion." SPD uses the facility to assemble high-speed circuit breakers, switchgear and electrical systems for US Navy vessels and trains and subway cars.