PHOENIX-Market conditions and timing were the driving factors behind beverage distributor's Hensley & Co.'s decision to sell its three regional warehouse and distribution facilities. Upon closing, Hensley, which distributes Anheuser-Bush products throughout the areahad sold a total of 577,167 square feet to New York City's Angelo, Gordon & Co.'s net lease division for $76 million – then leased the space back from the new owner.
"Henley is a 57-year-old company, and they felt the market conditions were right to redeploy capital and reinvest in the long-term growth of the company," says Chris Toci of Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona Inc. Toci, along with Cushman & Wakefield colleagues Chad Littell and Jim Wilson represented the seller/tenant in the transaction. The three properties are located at:
- 4201 N. 45th Ave., Phoenix
- 2555 N. Nevada, Chandler
- 10201 E. Valley Rd., Prescott Valley
Toci says the assets were widely marketed and attracted a great deal of interest, primarily because of the tenant. "Investors are clamoring for long-term, blue-chip credit-type tenants, especially if you have annual bumps and term," he tells GlobeSt.com, adding that the marketing process yielded just under 20 offers.
Angelo, Gordon was the right fit for a variety of reasons, Toci goes on to say. First, the buildings were acquired through the investor's triple-lease net fund. And second, the assets augmented other assets in that fund. "They'd done food-related buys from that fund," Toci says. "This augmented their portfolio and helps the break into the beverage category."
Toci says there is a difference in marketing and selling specialty buildings such as refrigerated warehouses as opposed to selling the straight industrial or office product. For one thing, comparable information isn't found in the market so much as it needs to be researched nationwide. Adding to the issue was the timing – like many other sellers, Hensley wanted to close by the end of Q4, 2012.
Hensley & Co. will continue to occupy the three properties. The firm will also continue to utilize the refrigerated facilities to annually distribute over 20 million cases of beverages throughout Arizona.
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