BlackRock Picks Up Amazon Warehouse on Long Island

100 Precision Drive. Image courtesy of Woodmont Industrial Partners

Woodmont Industrial Partners has finalized the sale of a 130,565-square-foot industrial asset in Shirley, N.Y., concluding its ownership of less than two years. BlackRock Real Assets paid $30.7 million for the Class A Long Island asset, which is fully leased on a long-term basis to Amazon. 

The New Jersey-based seller’s strategic transformation of 100 Precision Drive following its $7.2 million purchase in August 2019 paid off. The repositioned asset attracted the e-commerce giant, which committed to the entire facility in 2020. Amazon is also using the adjacent 6.5-acre land parcel, a parking lot for up to 220 vehicles, equipped with electric car charging stations.

Built in 2002, the 12.7-acre site is located on the South Shore of Long Island, along Interstate 495 (Long Island Expressway), with last-mile distribution access to the eastern part of the island. The property’s upgrades retouched the infrastructure and the buildings itself, resulting in a new ESFR sprinkler system and LED lighting, a new HVAC system, additional dock doors, as well as the replacement of the roof.

BlackRock was behind the largest industrial transaction within the emerging Phoenix-West submarket last year. The company paid $72.5 million to CBRE Global Investors for Southwest Industrial Center I, a 684,420-square-foot warehouse that neighbors another Amazon site.

Betting on Long Island and beyond

According to a recent Cushman & Wakefield report that analyzes the Long Island industrial market, the overall vacancy rate fell to a historical low at only 4 percent in the last quarter of 2020. Transaction volume retracted 10.5 percent year-over-year, hitting 697,411 square feet. The lack of supply—coupled with increased demand for warehouse space—pushed rental rates to $11.9 per square foot, marking a 23 percent increase since last year.

Woodmont is set to pick up additional 2 million square feet of value-add and development opportunities within the next year. The company’s portfolio of roughly 5 million square feet is spread across major intermodal markets such as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida.

In early 2021, Woodmont partnered with EverWest Real Estate Investors to acquire a 144,500-square-foot warehouse in Northern New Jersey. The South Brunswick distribution facility traded for nearly $20 million in a sale-leaseback deal.