Ares Eyes 7.3 MSF Industrial Portfolio Buy

March 16, 2026

The collection spans 13 states.

Ares is set to acquire a 7.3 million-square-foot industrial portfolio in a $650.2 million deal at the end of the month, according to a Fitch rating report. Wells Fargo, Barclays and Bank of America are expected to originate a $500 million CMBS acquisition loan.

The buyer is slated to fund this purchase with $168.2 million in equity alongside the debt. Ares also earmarked $12 million for closing costs and $6 million to fund upfront reserves.

The portfolio includes 36 properties spread across 13 states and 18 markets. By state, Illinois takes the largest share with nearly 1.6 million square feet, followed by Ohio (1.5 million square feet). By metro, Chicago leads (12.4 percent of the collection’s square footage), followed by Cincinnati (9.4 percent) and Atlanta (7.4 percent). The portfolio is leased to 36 unique tenants.

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Trimont and K-Star Asset Management will serve as servicer and special servicer, respectively. Computershare is set to act as trustee while Deutsche Bank is tasked with certificate administrator duties. BellOak will advise on operations.

Ares’ capital deployment accelerates

Last year alone, Ares invested $145.8 billion worldwide, up from $106.7 billion in 2024, its latest 10-K SEC filing shows. In 2025, it spent $16.8 billion in the real estate sector, while Ares’ non-traded U.S. industrial REIT had $7.6 billion in assets under management as of December.

Ares kicked off 2026 strong by wrapping up a previously announced $2.1 billion deal to take Plymouth Industrial REIT private. The company worked alongside Makarora Management to close the acquisition. The transaction shows a recent commercial real estate trend whereby the deal volume ticked up amid a narrowing valuation gap between buyers and sellers.