SPARTANBURG, SC-Johnson Development Associates Inc. has sold more than five million sf of core class A industrial space in South and North Carolina to CB Richard Ellis Realty Trust. The 34-building portfolio was 81% leased, with an 8.8-year weighted average remaining lease term.

"We had at least 10 to 15 highly qualified offers for all or parts of the portfolio," says Jack Fraker, vice chairman of the CBRE Dallas team that marketed the package. "We had a strong competition among the top bidders, really good famous names of institutional investors who focus on that product type." The South Carolina assets are in Johnson Development's homeport of Spartanburg, plus Greenville, Duncan and Charleston. The North Carolina real estate is situated in Winston-Salem and Charlotte.

The portfolio was one of the largest core class A portfolios of bulk industrial space to hit the market this year. As requested by buyer and seller, Fraker can't discuss the sale price. But, industry sources say similar bulk warehouses in key Carolina markets are selling for $50 per sf.

Fraker says the 33 tenants, 90% of which occupy entire buildings, are all automotive-related suppliers or manufacturers for a global supply chain that exports as well as imports. "They are all great credit tenants on long-term leases with upside," he tells GlobeSt.com, adding several locations have extra land for expansions. "George Johnson and his team have a real passion for industrial real estate. And, their strategy is to focus on major supply-chain corridors and US port cities."

The largest concentration, 2.14 million sf, sits in Spartanburg and Greenville, of which 874,799 sf is the eight-building Fairforest Business Center along John Martin Road and Centura Court in Johnson's headquarters city. In Charleston, there is 1.5 million sf while Charlotte has 943,310 sf and Winston-Salem, 416,983 sf. At sale time, there were four empty buildings in the mix. The average tenant occupies 115,000 sf.

Fraker, who leads the high-powered Dallas team, had Josh McArtor as the point man for the sale. The team included Randy Baird and Conor Feeney in Dallas; Chris Riley and Frank Fallon in the firm's Atlanta office; Robert Barrineau in Charleston; and Ryan Clutter in Charlotte. Assisting with negotiations was the developer's Garrett Johnson, who says in a release that "the deal was a proverbial win-win that accomplished everyone's goals." A CBRE Investors team from Los Angeles represented the buy side.