Stonemont Secures Cleveland-Area Industrial Lease
This marks one of the market’s largest deals of its kind this year.
Stonemont Financial Group has obtained a full-building, 450,112-square-foot lease with B’laster Holdings at Westfield Commerce Park in Westfield Township, Ohio.
The transaction reportedly is one of the largest industrial leases in the Cleveland region in the third quarter. It seems that the tenant previously occupied about 309,000 square feet at Westfield Commerce Park, according to information from Yardi Matrix data, but Commercial Property Executive was unable to confirm this with Stonemont.
The property is at the intersection of Interstates 71 and 76, about 40 miles southwest of Cleveland and due west of Akron.
B’laster Holdings is a specialty chemical manufacturer headquartered in Valley View, Ohio, and perhaps best known as a maker of lubricants and penetrants, such as Casite, Gunk and Liquid Wrench.
Westfield Commerce Park features 36-foot clear heights, cross-dock configuration, 500 car parking spaces and 130 trailer stalls. It was completed in June 2023 as a speculative project.
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Stonemont is the property’s developer and owner; Pinnacle Bank and PCCP are debt and capital partners. A JLL team of Executive Managing Director Joe Messina and Managing Director David Stecker oversaw leasing for Westfield Commerce Park and represented Stonemont in the transaction.
Strong in Ohio, growing in Florida
Despite nearly 1 million square feet of net negative absorption year-to-date, in large part from the closure of a Joann Fabrics facility in Summit County, the Cleveland region’s industrial space market appears to remain resilient, according to a third-quarter report from JLL. Overall vacancy is 3.8 percent, and average asking rent hit $5.68 per square foot and is trending higher.
In another good sign, JLL reports, the third quarter “saw numerous leases signed in recently developed speculative product, highlighting occupiers’ commitment to the region despite ongoing economic uncertainty.”
Stonemont has heavily invested in Ohio in recent years with the development of more than 3.5 million square feet of industrial space. The company’s projects in the state include Castings Commerce Park, a three-building, 862,000-square-foot industrial park in downtown Columbus; West Jeff One, a 1 million-square-foot distribution center in West Jefferson outside of Columbus; and Turnpike Commerce Center, a 1 million-square-foot industrial facility in Shalersville, near Cleveland.
In addition, the Atlanta-based Stonemont has been active recently closer to home. In October it completed 429 Business Center, a seven-building, 259,255-square-foot Class A industrial campus in Ocoee, Fla., in metro Orlando. The project delivered 49 percent preleased.
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