Liberty Builds 1M-SF Wakefern Food Distribution Center

Bill Goodwin, SVP in the Philadelphia office of CB Richard Ellis, working with Art Rasmussen of CBRE's national food services group, was the sole broker, representing both Liberty and Wakefern in the lease transaction. Goodwin tells GlobeSt.com, "Liberty's total investment in the project is $60 million."

Neither he nor Liberty would disclose the aggregate value of the lease. Bob Walters, managing director of CBRE's Philadelphia regional offices, says the transaction "is ten times greater than the average for industrial real estate leases." According to a CBRE fourth-quarter 2004 report, the average asking rental rate in this area is about $4 per sf.

"The Lehigh Valley affords us access to our stores in southern New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware," says Dean Janeway, president and CEO of Elizabeth, NJ-based Wakefern, in a statement. "This new facility provides us with additional space to better serve our membership and prepares us for future growth." He credited Liberty with "helping to clear the way for permits and offering creative solutions to help meet our needs."

Wakefern is the largest retailer-owned supermarket cooperative in the US. It is comprised of 42 independent grocer-members that operate approximately 200 ShopRite Supermarkets in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Delaware.

Liberty currently owns nine buildings aggregating 4.1 million sf in Boulder Business Center and a total of 76 buildings with an aggregate of 13 million sf in the Lehigh Valley. Bob Kiel, SVP, is Liberty's Lehigh Valley regional director.