GFH Partners, Scannell Properties Land $250M Portfolio Refi

GFH Partners and Scannell Properties have refinanced a seven-property, 2.3 million-square-foot industrial portfolio in seven U.S. states with a $250 million single-asset, single-borrower CMBS loan.

Barclays led the lending syndicate provided the fixed-rate SASB CMBS financing. Details on the other syndicate lenders were not disclosed.

Cushman & Wakefield served as the exclusive advisor to GFH Partners and Scannell Properties in securing the financing. Gideon Gil, Taylor Geiger and Cecelia Galligan of Cushman & Wakefield’s Equity, Debt & Structured Finance group advised the borrower.

“The attractive pricing achieved on this fixed-rate industrial SASB underscores the strength of the sponsor, the quality of the portfolio and the effectiveness of the sponsor’s overall strategy. Lenders responded positively to the opportunity to finance this portfolio on behalf of a well-regarded sponsor, resulting in a competitive marketing process and advantageous terms for our client,” Taylor told Commercial Property Executive.

Property highlights

The portfolio comprises seven assets, six of which are occupied by FedEx Ground. The seventh, located at 12900 Carol Court in Franksville, Wis., is occupied by General Mills. The 322,116-square-foot asset was built in 2021 and acquired in 2022. Here are details on the other properties:

• 5000 Foundation Court, Sioux Falls, S.D., 337,138 square feet, built in 2021, acquired in 2022;
• 1035 Commerce Park Drive, S.W., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 479,083 square feet, built in 2022, acquired in 2023;
• 2410 Great Dane Drive, Jonesboro, Ark., 317,519 square feet, built in 2022, acquired in 2023;
• 2800 International Blvd., Clarksville, Tenn., 250,955 square feet, built in 2022, acquired in 2023;
• 1270 S. Federal Way, Pittsburg, Kan., 250,955 square feet, built in 2022, acquired in 2023
• 2120 Two Notch Road, Lexington, S.C., 337,137 square feet, built in 2022, acquired in 2023.

Longtime FedEx relationship

Scannell, an Indianapolis-based real estate development and investment firm, has developed numerous build-to-suit projects for FedEx Ground across the nation over the years for use as distribution centers and automatic sorting facilities.

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In April 2023, Scannell sold an approximately 250,000-square-foot FedEx Ground distribution center in Bowling Green, Ohio, to Kingsbarn Realty Capital, which used the property as an investment in its Delaware Statutory Trust program with plans to offer it as a 1031-exchange replacement asset. The build-to-suit project is situated within Woodbridge Business Park near Interstate 75 and about 20 miles from CSX Intermodal.

Scannell sold a 236,976-square-foot FedEx Ground distribution center in St. Petersburg, Fla., for $94.5 million in November 2021. FedEx had been the asset’s single tenant since it was completed in 2017. Located at 1950 102nd Ave. N., the property is 8 miles north of downtown St. Petersburg, 14 miles from the Tampa International Airport via Interstate 275 and about 16 miles west of Port Tampa Bay.

Earlier recap deal

In December 2023, Manulife Investment Management entered into a partnership with StepStone Real Estate for the recapitalization of a 10.4 million-square-foot industrial portfolio owned by Scannell. The 35 properties were located in 17 U.S. markets and valued at $1.2 billion.

The properties had all been recently completed at the time of the recap. The deal secured capital in the form of additional liquidity for Scannell’s portfolio and also provided Manulife access to well-positioned Class A industrial properties.

The partnership planned to continue lease-up deals for the portfolio as well as completing buildings and executing financing and disposition strategies to further stabilize the assets.