Liberty Property Pays Nearly $188M for 1M SF

PHOENIX-Liberty Property Trust has added more muscle to its Greater Phoenix portfolio with the addition of more than one million sf of flex and industrial buildings and 38 acres of raw land. In separate transactions, the Malvern, PA-based REIT has paid $175.5 million for the 805,639-sf Allred Cotton Center in Phoenix and $11.2 million for a 228,000-sf building in Tolleson.

John DiVall, Liberty Property's vice president and city manager for Arizona, says the Cotton Center portfolio, sold by locally based Douglas Allred Co., ranges from brand-new product to buildings that are just a few years old. "The deal also includes some pad sites in the park so we'll be building in there as well," he adds. "We already have some interest from potential users."

Allred Cotton Center is a mix of completed and under-construction space in the 280-acre Cotton Center, situated five miles from Sky Harbor International Airport. The buildings will change hands in stages. The first closing rolled in a 101,269-sf shell at 4410 E. Cotton Center Blvd., 79,946-sf shell at 4650 S. 44th Place and 18 of 38 developable acres that can support another 460,000 sf. "The goal is to lease up the shell buildings and maintain the tenant base we have," DiVall says.

Throughout the second quarter, Liberty intends to acquire the rest. The portfolio also consists of fully leased buildings at 4207, 4303, 4425, 4415 and 4405 E. Cotton Center Blvd.; 4217 E. Cotton Center Blvd., which is 28% leased; and 4213 E. Cotton Center Blvd., which is 72% leased. Currently under construction is 4435 E. Cotton Center Blvd., a 25,505-sf spec project.

West in Tolleson, Liberty has acquired a just-completed distribution building at 8313 W. Pierce Rd. from Ryan Cos. US Inc. of Minneapolis. "We wanted to be in that market as it's one of the most industrial submarkets in the area," DiVall tells GlobeSt.com. "We already had a relationship with Ryan and struck a deal with them where we would buy it as soon as it was shell-complete and take a leasing risk on it." He adds that nothing else is under contract at this time although Liberty would like to continue adding to its portfolio.

Mark Phillips with Sperry Van Ness' Phoenix office negotiated both transactions. CB Richard Ellis senior vice presidents Robert Crum and Mark Krison in the Phoenix office have been tapped to lease the Cotton Center while CBRE colleagues Patrick Feeney Jr. and Daniel Calihan, also senior vice presidents, will market the Tolleson property to potential users.