Rockefeller Group Sells Atlanta-Area Asset

The newly built industrial facility came online this year and is fully leased.

Braselton 85. Image courtesy of Rockefeller Group

Cabot Properties has acquired Braselton 85, a 223,000-square-foot, Class A industrial property in Braselton, Ga., from Rockefeller Group. The newly built facility is fully leased to a South Korean automotive manufacturer, Duckyang America Inc. The tenant will be using the industrial space as a warehouse and for light manufacturing.

The facility is the second industrial asset owned by Cabot Properties in the metro, said Michael McCarthy, managing director with Cabot Properties, in prepared remarks.

According to Jackson County data, the developer purchased the parcel located at 984 Broadway Ave. in 2019 for $1.9 million. The speculative distribution center sits on a 21-acre site and began to take shape last fall, with Pattillo Construction as general contractor, and was completed in March.

The building offers 47 dock doors and two drive-in ones, as well as 32 feet clear heights. The facility is outfitted with an ESFR sprinkler system, it has 26 trailer drops and 134 auto parking spots.

The property is roughly 50 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta, with Interstate 85 less than 1.5 miles away. Other tenants in the North Atlanta submarket along I-85 include Amazon, Havertys Furniture, Petco and FedEx.

A Cushman & Wakefield Capital Markets Group team lead by Vice Chairman Stewart Calhoun and Senior Director Casey Masters represented the seller. 

A healthy sector

While the COVID-19-induced downturn negatively impacted several commercial real estate sectors, industrial continues to be a top performer. According to CommercialEdge data, sales in the sector totaled $44.4 billion last year. In the first five months of this year, sales volume already reached $18 billion.

The Atlanta industrial market mirrors healthy nationwide fundamentals, with rents up 4.4 percent year-over-year through May, equal to the U.S. rate of growth. Meanwhile, vacancy clocked in at 4.4 percent, below the 5.7 percent national average, a recent CommercialEdge report also shows.  

In the context of steady growth, Rockefeller Group has made headlines, being part of this year’s largest single-asset industrial transaction through May. The company sold 10Edison, an Amazon distribution center in Edison, N.J., for $247 million.

Finding the right tenant

The Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Global Commerce division, represented by Director of Korean Investment Yoonie Kim, the Jackson County Industrial Development Authority, Georgia Quick Start and Georgia EMC worked together to bring the South Korean automotive manufacturer to Braselton. Duckyang moved in in March.

Duckyang plans to invest $10 million in its first U.S. manufacturing facility, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp announced in May. The facility is expected to create 285 jobs in production, maintenance, logistics and warehouse management. The manufacturer will supply SK Battery America with automotive battery modules and energy storage systems.

Founded in 1977, Duckyang is based in Ulsan, South Korea. The manufacturer supplies cockpit modules to clients such as Hyundai, Kia and Renault Samsung Motors. The opportunity to work with the former two companies, that already have a U.S. presence, was an incentive to bring Duckyang to Georgia, according to a prepared statement from Dong-in Son, CEO of Duckyang.

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