HIALEAH, FL—The 1.6-million-square-foot Centergate at Gratigny distribution center here has changed hands in a deal that brokerage firm CBRE states is the largest industrial transaction of the year in the State of Florida.

The three-building Class A industrial property, located at 5801 and 6301 East 10th Ave., features a 978,164-square-foot distribution and light assembly warehouse (phase one) and two newly constructed state-of-the-art distribution buildings totaling 602,657 square feet (phase two). Phase one was built in 1999 and features a mix of 32-foot, 17-foot, and 13-foot clear span heights, an above-market 1.7 per 1,000-square-foot auto parking ratio, 140 trailer parking spaces, and 7% overall office finish. Phase two features 32-foot clear span heights and a dock-high rear-load configuration with ample dock-high doors given its 233-foot deep buildings, CBRE reports.

Little detail was available at press time on the transaction, including the identity of the seller, which was only identified as a global investment management firm that acquired the property in 2015. CBRE in its announcement did not identify the buyer of the complex.

A 2016 report in The Real Deal stated that Prudential Real Estate of Newark, NJ previously paid nearly $96 million to Barclays Capital Real Estate for the Centergate at Gratigny distribution center and took out a $39-million mortgage on 27 acres of vacant land for site that would yield more than 600,000 square feet of new development.

The seller was exclusively represented by the CBRE Capital Markets team of vice chairman Chris Riley, vice chairman Christian Lee and EVP José Lobón.

"Centergate is one of the largest industrial offerings to come for sale in South Florida in recent years. Given the challenges to aggregate square footage in our market, Centergate presented a unique opportunity to acquire critical mass in one of the most desirable logistics markets in the nation," says CBRE's Lobón.

The property is anchored by Bullet Line, a leading supplier of low-price promotional products. Other significant tenants include Carnival Cruise Lines, and Veritiv, a Fortune 500 business-to-business distributor of packaging, print and publishing products.

The South Florida industrial market remains robust, with 37.8 million square feet of net absorption over the last five years, more than 1.6 times the 23.1 million square feet of new deliveries over the same time frame. This record-level activity has caused vacancy rates to remain below 4% throughout the Tri-County region, with Miami-Dade County registering a mere 3.5% vacancy. These fundamentals have been advantageous to landlords, with market rents growing 35% since 2011—equal to average annual growth of 4.9% over that time frame, CBRE states.

The CBRE Capital Markets team also included first VP Amy Julian, with CBRE's Debt & Structured Finance, and financial analyst Royce Rose. The Miami-based CBRE Industrial Leasing team of Devin White and David Albert assisted in the marketing of the property.

Instant Insights /

Centergate at Gratigny Sale Ranks as Top Florida Industrial Deal of Year

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