Keystone Pays $27M for Distribution Facilities

PHILADELPHIA-In two separate transactions, West Conshohocken, PA-based Keystone Property Trust has paid $27.05 million for distribution centers in Carlisle and Wilkes Barre, PA with an aggregate of 789,242 sf. The acquisitions bring Keystone’s fourth-quarter investment in the state to approximately 1 million sf.

The REIT paid $18.95 million, or $37.90 per sf, for the 500,000-sf Crossroads Commerce Center in Carlisle. The seller is identified as Middlesex Warehouse Investors, LP, a company formed by Conewago Contractors and Equilibrium Equities.

The facility, which fronts both the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I-81, was built in 2001. It is currently leased to Wiremold Co. on a long-term lease and Genco Distribution Systems, “providing near term rental stability and the opportunity to capture future upside rental potential,” says Keystone senior vice president of investments A. Donald Chase Jr. in a statement.

Keystone paid $8.1 million, or $28 per sf, to an unidentified seller for the 289,242-sf Oak Street Distribution Center in Carlisle, which is located within a mile of I-81 and the Northeast Extension of the turnpike.

Oak Street is fully leased through 2006 to Maytag and EGS Electric Group. The acquisition enhances Keystone’s market position in the state’s northeastern area, “one of two primary distribution hubs in the region,” Chase adds. “The investment represents a unique opportunity to acquire an institutional quality asset in a core market at a low price per sf with a high cash yield on in-place rents.”