USAA Buys 1.4 MSF Memphis Industrial Portfolio, Continuing Shopping Spree

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

USAA Real Estate Co. has been bulking up its portfolio all summer, and it appears the activity is going to continue right into the fall. US Industrial REIT III, owned by affiliates of USAA and a group of institutional investors, just acquired a 1.4 million-square-foot industrial portfolio at Chickasaw Distribution Center in Memphis. 

The two-building, Class A bulk distribution portfolio is located right off Hickory Road near I-78 and less than five miles from the Mississippi border. The 829,500-square-foot building at 6100 East Holmes Road is home to electronics manufacturing services provider Flextronics Logistics USA Inc. and candle and home fragrances manufacturer MVP Group International. Sitting one block from 6100 East Homes is 6000 Freeport Ave., a 540,000-square-foot structure occupied by furniture and lighting importer Creative Co-Op Inc., which maintains its corporate headquarters and U.S. distribution center at the property.

The Memphis portfolio is not the only big fish–be it property or partner–that USAA has landed in the past few months. September has been particularly busy, and there is still more than a week to go. Transactions include US Republic Core Fund and U.S. Premier Office Equities’ acquisition of the 469,400-square-foot Las Olas Centre office complex in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., from an entity of Wachovia/Wells Fargo. Additionally, USAA and Admiral Capital Group established Admiral Capital Real Estate Fund in partnership with NBA Hall of Famer and philanthropist David Robinson to snap up commercial real estate assets in deals ranging in value from $25 million to $100 million across the country. And mid-September brought the closing of Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ investment in USAA’s US Government Building Fund L.L.C., which, with $546 million committed for the acquisition of premier government-leased assets, is expected to grow to $1 billion.