HGI Sheds Interest in Amazon-Anchored Last-Mile Brooklyn Asset

Privately-owned real estate investment firm Harbor Group International has sold its interest in an Amazon-anchored last-mile industrial property in Brooklyn to BentallGreenOak, on behalf of an institutional investor.

HGI and Turnbridge Equities acquired the 90,000 square foot Class A industrial property at 2300 Linden Boulevard and 835 Essex Street in a master lease transaction in May of 2018. At the time, the property was vacant, and the JV companies invested $2.6 million in improvements to convert it into a modern logistics facility.

2300 Linden was then leased to Amazon on a long-term basis, a move that both added value to the asset and underscored the e-commerce giant’s commitment to refining and beefing up its last-mile capabilities. Around 30% of new last-mile assets coming to market from 2020 to 2021 will likely be absorbed by Amazon as the company expands its last-mile delivery platform with both new and existing infill industrial assets in markets like Dallas-Fort Worth, California’s Inland Empire and East Bay, and South Florida. The company also tends to gobble up pricier last-mile assets, with an ever-widening gap between overall national logistics rents and the average rent Amazon pays.

“2300 Linden is a prime example of our ‘Last Mile’ industrial strategy,” said T. Richard Litton, Jr., president of HGI, in prepared remarks. “The property’s irreplaceable location within a 30-minute drive to 10.5m customers and in close proximity to JFK Airport, as well as its large, contiguous warehouse space, made it highly attractive to Amazon.”