First Industrial Buys 336,000 SF In Two Deals

DELANCO, NJ-In separate transactions, the Philadelphia office of First Industrial Realty Trust has picked up two South Jersey industrial properties totaling more than 335,700 sf. Both are fully occupied, one transaction involves the sale-leaseback of a logistics company's headquarters, and both are within 10 miles of Downtown Philadelphia.

"Both of these acquisitions are ideal fits with out existing portfolio," says Pete Corcoran, the company's regional director, who notes that broker Scott Mertz of NAI-Mertz, Mount Laurel, assisted with the transactions. "They are consistent with our strategic plan for the Philadelphia region."

The larger of the two acquisitions, which also involves the sale-leaseback deal, is the two-building, 230,274-sf headquarters of Jevic Transportation, a logistics and transport management company. Located at 600 and 700 Creek Rd. here, the newly acquired property is near both I-95 and I-295 and adjacent to Route 130, all major north/south trucking routes. Terms of deal, both the sale and the lease, were not released.

The second pick-up is the 105,450-sf 820 East Gate Dr. in Mount Laurel, situated near I-295 and Exit 4 of the New Jersey Turnpike. The property was acquired from S.V. Price & Co., a Hartsdale, NY-based REIT. The sale price was not disclosed, but the property had been listed with NAI-Mertz with an asking price of $5.9 million. The building is currently occupied and utilized as a regional W/D facility by Edward Don & Co., a Chicago-based distributor of food service equipment and supplies.

"It is either a functional regional or corporate headquarters, with 18,000 sf of finished offices and more than 87,000 sf of warehouse," Corcoran says. "The warehouse space includes 24-ft clear height."

Combined with another recent acquisition, First Industrial's Philadelphia region has already grabbed up more than 890,000 sf so far this year. As reported byGlobeSt.com, the company earlier this month bought the 509,000-sf industrial building at 200 Cascade Dr. and an adjacent 50,000-sf building within the Lehigh Valley Industrial Park II in Allentown, PA, paying Conewago Equities $25.1 million for the properties.