Duke Sells 1M-SF Gwinnett Park to GID for $55M

In the newest deal, General Investment and Development Cos. paid Duke Realty Corp. $55 million, or about $53.57 per sf, for the one-million-sf, 22-year-old, 87% leased Gwinnett Park, a landmark property in Atlanta's Interstate 85-Northeast industrial submarket.

It's the largest industrial park sale this year in the metro area, according to Trammell Crow Co. which brokered the deal. Buyer and seller are both from Indianapolis.

Last week, locally based VEF Advisors, an affiliate of New York-based Apollo Real Estate Advisors LP, closed on the largest office building deal of its kind this year with the $196-million purchase of CarrAmerica Realty Corp.'s 15-property local portfolio, as GlobeSt.com previously reported.

The Duke sale included 19 light distribution and office/flex buildings with direct access to Interstates 85 and 285. Among the buildings' 58 national tenants are Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., Krispy Kreme, Novoste Corp., Komatsu Zenoah, TREK and Best Software.

Trammell Crow brokers Chris Riley, Frank Fallon and Brad Rodgers negotiated for Duke and also found the buyer. The property was on the market for about four months and also took another four months to complete, from contract signing to closing, Riley tells GlobeSt.com.

"Gwinnett Park provides a great combination of functional business park buildings located in Atlanta's most dynamic industrial submarket, with tremendous interstate access and a classic corporate image setting," Riley says.

General Investment and Development Cos. operates its flex and industrial properties under the Windsor Business Parks banner. The properties are in Raleigh, NC, Richmond, VA, Chicago and Dallas. GID principal Robert T. Karp calls the acquisition "a notable addition to our business park portfolio."

Karp adds, "Gwinnett Park squarely meets our investment criteria in terms of its superior interstate access, well-landscaped park setting and a strong and diverse tenant roster. These qualities will enable us to meet our corporate objective of providing high value to our tenants at a competitive cost."