Monmouth Acquires $16.2M Industrial Facility; Mall of Memphis Site Goes Industrial

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

Freehold, N.J.-based Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. has purchased a 234,660-square-foot industrial facility in Olive Branch’s Metro Industrial Park for $16.2 million, reports the Memphis Business Journal.

The Class A, built-to-suit facility located at 8644 Polk Lane is near another building owned by Monmouth that is currently under a 10-year lease to FedEx Supply Chain Services Inc. The 449,900-square-foot unit is leased through May 2019.

The Polk Lane facility sits on 12.3 acres and was built-to-suit by Atlanta-based Industrial Developments International Inc (IDI). It is currently leased by Corona, Calif.-based Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s distribution division, Anda Pharmaceuticals Inc.

The Polk Lane distribution facility was first announced in August 2011. It was then estimated to cost $23 million and generate 70 new jobs in the area, replacing Anda’s Groveport, Ohio location.

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation is a publicly-owned real estate investment trust specializing in net-leased industrial properties subject to long-term leases primarily to investment grade tenants. Monmouth’s portfolio spans 25 states and consists of 69 industrial buildings and one shopping center, totaling approximately 8.2 million square feet of gross leasable area. Monmouth also owns a portfolio of REIT securities.

Anda Distribution is the fourth largest U.S. distributors of generic pharmaceuticals and also distributes vaccines and over-the-counter medicines to more than 200 suppliers in over 65,000 locations.

In other industrial news, the Memphis City Council has approved a South Carolina developer’s plans to turn the former Mall of Memphis site at I-240 and Perkins into an industrial park. According to a Memphis Business Journal report, Johnson Development Associates Inc. has received the official go-ahead to redevelop the 113-acre site, currently owned by Memphis Mall Holdings LLC, an entity of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Johnson’s plans a 598,000-square-foot building with 250 parking spaces, a 225,000-square-foot building with 278 parking spaces and a 130,000-square-foot building with 205 parking spaces, security towers, truck parking and detention ponds.

Johnson Development Associates has more than a dozen industrial developments throughout the Southeast.