Adler Takes Naples Industrial Portfolio for $31M

The Adler Group has acquired a 252,400-square-foot industrial portfolio in Naples, Fla., from Lund Capital Group for $31 million. The two-building portfolio is located near Naples Municipal Airport and is 96 percent occupied. The portfolio consists of Collier Park of Commerce, a seven-building, 189,500-square-foot park and Commerce Center, a four-building, 62,900-square-foot park. Collier County is among the tenants, according to Mike Davis, executive director of Florida’s West Coast capitals market group for Cushman & Wakefield Inc., who negotiated the sale of the portfolio for the owner, Naples-based Lund Capital Group.Jason Hochman, managing director of acquisitions for Adler Group, told CPN the firm has had its eye on the Naples and Fort Myers region for some time but has not found the right deal until now. Naples, which has been growing in population and personal income, has very high barriers to entry, he noted. “With a shortage of developable land and construction costs rising, this was a chance to get in and buy an asset at well below replacement cost and get it at a good price,” he said. According to Hochman, Adler liked the portfolio for a number of reasons, including its diverse mix of tenants and lack of competition.Also part of the Cushman & Wakefield team were associate director Rick Brugge; executive director Gary Tasman and associate director Shawn Stoneburner. Davis told CPN there were seven qualified bidders for the portfolio. “I think the fact that this is an infill market with limited competition and a growing residential base, makes it an attractive investment,” he said. Davis said the bidders were a combination of institutional investors and private companies. He said the institutional investor’s interest “was somewhat surprising,” adding that there usually isn’t a lot of institutional interest in industrial and office investments in Naples. Davis said the fact that it was a large industrial offering for the market, which has a total of about 8 million square feet of industrial space, was probably part of the attraction for the bidders. “This is significant because it demonstrates continued investor confidence in the Southwest Florida market,” Davis said. Miami-based Adler Group and its affiliates have developed and acquired more than 14 million square feet of industrial, office, retail and residential real estate, much of it in South Florida. The company developed over 4.5 million square feet of office and industrial space in the MICC project at Miami International Airport. Late last year, Adler announced it was planning to spend more than $200 million to develop the Airside International Business Park at Opa-locka Executive Airport near Miami. Located seven miles north of Miami International Airport, the Opa-locka Executive Airport is owned by Miami-Dade County. Adler’s preliminary plans call for new FBO facilities, corporate, maintenance and cargo hangars as well as space for retail, offices, warehouses, a hotel and parking, according to a Nov. 8, 2007, CPN report.