RICHMOND, VA-Right on the heels of its $124 million sale of 32 office and high-finish flex properties in Lehigh Valley, PA, Liberty Property Trust has sold another 14 assets here, for $97 million. The office and flex properties, which totaled 918,889 square feet of space, were purchased by Lingerfelt Development.

Both sales are part of the REIT’s long-standing strategy of decreasing its presence in suburban office markets with the goal of expanding in other industrial markets and properties, SVP and CIO Mike Hagan tells GlobeSt.com. The firm views Richmond as a viable market and plans to reinvest some of the proceeds from its sales in the market, in different industrial assets, such as the multi-tenant, local distribution product that is typical for the market. “We will look opportunities as they present themselves,” he says.

The Lehigh Valley sale is reflective of the same strategy: out with the old, in with the new. The firm wants to focus on developing and operating distribution properties in the corridor that stretches from the Lehigh Valley through Harrisburg to Hagerstown, MD,” Bob Kiel, senior vice president and city manager for the Lehigh Valley region, said in a prepared statement. By divesting the older properties in the Lehigh Valley International Airport submarket it will be able to focus on growth in the west side of the Lehigh Valley and across the corridor, he said.

The Richmond properties are located in Westgate at Wellesley, Innsbrook Corporate Center and Deep Run Corporate Center. They are 98% leased. The Pennsylvania properties are located in Lehigh Valley Industrial Park, William Penn Business Center and Stabler Corporate Center and are approximately 90% leased.