Matrix Buys 255,000-SF Industrial Building

The seller is WW Grainger, the manufacturer and distributor of facility-related products for commercial, industrial and other users. Terms of the sale, including the sale price, were not disclosed. Industry sources estimate that the asset traded for a number in the $15-million range.

With the sale, the asset has come full circle: Matrix built the building for Grainger, which has been using it for warehousing and distribution purposes, in 1995. The closing of the acquisition also coincides with Grainger's relocation later this year to a new, 436,000-sf facility being built for the company by Matrix within the latter's Northeast Business Park in Washington Township, NJ.

"This transaction reflects our strategy of continuing to build our portfolio by acquiring and developing assets in the 8A marketplace," according to Gary Hans, vice president of acquisitions for Matrix.

Matrix is also putting 26 South Middlesex Ave. on the market for lease, pending Grainger's departure. The asset, which has a built-out office component of 10,000 sf, sits on a site of approximately 30 acres within the CenterPoint at 8A Business Park, halfway between New York and Philadelphia. The site itself has the capacity for an additional 120,000 sf of space to be added onto the existing building.

"This building is an outstanding opportunity for companies looking for high-quality industrial space to support their light industrial, assembly or manufacturing businesses," says Patrick J. Connelly, Matrix's asset management director.

The acquisition is Matrix's third in the Exit 8A submarket in recent weeks. Earlier, the company picked up both the 440,000-sf industrial facility at 45 Stults Rd. here, as well as 1 Able Dr., a 224,000-sf industrial building. In the past 24 months, Matrix has chalked up a total of more than five million sf of sales and leases in the Garden State.