San Diego Investor Stages Texas Industrial Play

The buyer, Johnson Warehouse San Diego Ltd. LP, is a longtime client of the industrial district's veteran broker, David Dunn, owner of Dunn Commercial LP in Arlington. The California buyer's latest purchases are fully leased for the long term, a sweet spot in a submarket where vacancy is riding at 20%.

Dunn, who specializes in investment sales, says both leasing and sales activity are slow in the Great Southwest, the region's oldest industrial park. But, he tells GlobeSt.com that he's optimistic velocity will pick up. Right now, the battle is with tenants' expectations of free rent, kickbacks and hefty tenant improvement dollars. One prospect was seeking "exclusivity" in a multi-tenant industrial building much as a top name retailer would do, a clear-cut widening of the "Great Divide" of expectations between building owners' needs and tenants' wants in a soft market.

The San Diego buyer, which has other holdings in the area, is keying in on investment opportunities for a long-term hold, picking up assets practically as they come to market. The latest trade is a 25,000-sf building at 2771 Great Southwest Parkway. The two-tenant building is leased to Airtron Corp. and Standard Supply Co.

Seller Eagle Eye Investments Ltd. Co. of Springboro, OH, was represented by Don Dillard of Judge Fite Century 21 in Arlington. The 21-year-old building, sitting on 1.4 acres, is assessed at $600,000. Eagle Eye acquired the holding just three years ago, according to the Tarrant Appraisal District.

At 626 112th St., the buyer locked down a 17,236-sf building that is fully leased to Grant Prideco Inc., an oilfield services supplier. The property, assessed at $389,925, was bought from the Moran Estate, which was represented by Pat J. Haggerty of the Pat Haggerty Co. in Dallas. The Arlington seller let go of a 0.8-acre tract with a 36-year-old building that it acquired in 1997, tax records show.

Dunn, along with Greg Morris from his firm, connected the buyer to 301 6th St., a 34,420-sf building in the Mansfield Industrial Park. The 4.8-acre property, assessed at $850,000, was acquired from V.L. Cain of Mansfield. BJ Services, a manufacturer of oil well drilling parts, occupies the entire building. Morris tells GlobeSt.com that the asset was snapped up the first week it hit the market.