FORT LAUDERDALE, FL-Chicago-based First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. has acquired six buildings totaling 282,000 sf in the International Warehouse complex located at 4700 NW 15th Ave. The acquisition price was not released.

First Industrial regional director Jeremy Shapiro tells GlobeSt.com that the property was attractive for acquisition because of its high occupancy rate, which is 96%. Space rents in the property for $6 to $8.50 per sf. Also, the property caters to smaller tenants, which Shapiro calls "a popular and diminishing niche in the marketplace."

"This is a great opportunity for First Industrial to enter the Broward County industrial market," Shapiro says. "These buildings are in a strategic location to the Interstate 95 corridor and offer a wide range of space available from 5,000 sf to 20,000 sf."

Shapiro says First Industrial plans to hold the International Warehouse properties as a long-term asset. It also plans to acquire more properties in all three South Florida counties. The company currently owns nearly three million sf of space in Florida. Among those properties are the 45,165-sf Starkey Center and the 56,812-sf Cross Bayou Commerce Center in Largo and the 64,742-sf George Road Business Park and the 189,401-sf Thompson Center II in Tampa.