HOUSTON-First Industrial Realty Trust Inc. has acquired an 84,872-sf research and development flex building on the west side. In a separate transaction, the Chicago REIT disposed of a seven-building 191,122-sf industrial portfolio it had owned since 1999.
Sales prices were not disclosed, but area assets have traded for between $50 and $55 per sf. Tom Lynch, first vice president with CB Richard Ellis Inc.'s Houston office, says the market activity was nothing out of the ordinary for First Industrial.
"What I sold for them was an older portfolio that had cycled through their inventory," says Lynch of the industrial properties. Lynch was assisted by CBRE's marketing specialist Alisha Renshaw in the portfolio's disposition to self-represented Cabot Properties Inc., headquartered in Boston.
"Cabot saw this as a value-add opportunity," Lynch tells GlobeSt.com. "Some of the rents were below market, and there was enough vacancy on some of the project, that they believed this would be a good opportunity."
The 92%-occupied, 1980s portfolio consists of buildings at 4007 Greenbriar Dr.; 4111-4115 Greenbriar Dr. and 4230-4234 Bluebonnet Dr. in Stafford; and 17401-17497 Village Green Dr. on the northwest side in Houston. Transwestern has been tapped to manage the portfolio, while CBRE and Stream Realty Partners LP will handle leasing.
On the buy side, First Industrial acquired the 40-year-old flex Wynnwood Business Park at 7230-7260 Wynwood Lane through an off-market transaction. Lynch, who represented local seller O'Connell Realty in the transaction, says First Industrial plans to renovate the 50%-occupied center and lease it up. Lease asks range from $.35 to $.65 per sf, triple net. "There's nothing critical in terms of roll that comes to mind," Lynch adds. First Industrial was self-represented in the transaction.
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