MINNEAPOLIS—CPA®:17 – Global, a non-traded REIT affiliate of W. P. Carey Inc., a New York-based REIT, has just purchased a 182,000-square-foot office in suburban Plymouth for $34 million. The metropolitan area has one of the healthiest economies in the US, and this submarket, which hosts a number of corporate headquarters, has an especially low vacancy rate. W.P. Carey has certainly taken notice, as this is its second major purchase here. Properties acquired by W.P. Carey typically are the most modern, up-to-date facilities with long-term leases to companies that consider the assets critical to their operations.

Smiths Medical has a long-term lease and will begin occupying this facility, which was constructed in 1999, in February 2015. The company, a division of Smiths Group plc, a multinational engineering firm, supplies specialist medical devices, consumables and equipment for global markets. It has operations in over 30 countries and sells in about 120 markets around the world and has selected this building as its future headquarters.  

Last month, W.P. Carey purchased from Liberty Property Trust a 191,000-square-foot office and R&D facility in Plymouth for about $43 million. That facility is leased to Alliant Techsystems Inc. for a period of about 10 years.

"Having recently acquired an asset in the submarket on behalf of another of our managed REITs, we are pleased to add this asset to CPA^®:17 – Global's portfolio,” Gino Sabatini, the company's managing director and co-head of global investments. “Plymouth, which is recognized as the healthiest submarket in the Twin Cities, is an area comprised of 25.5-million-square-feet of office space with a reported 7.2% vacancy rate.”