W.P. Carey Inc. Acquires $48 Million Distribution Facility

By Gabriel Circiog, Associate Editor

W.P. Carey Inc. recently announced it has acquired an 824,624-square-foot distribution facility just outside of Chicago. The property was purchased from Exeter Property Group for a price of about $48 million.

Located in University Park, Ill., the facility is fully-leased to a subsidiary of The J.M. Smucker Company for a period of nine and a half years. The original 575,024-square-foot facility was built in 2008 and Exeter expanded it by 249,600 in 2013 to facilitate the distribution of coffee under the Folgers brand, which Smuckers acquired in 2008.

“This investment represented an opportunity to acquire a new Class-A logistics facility that serves as a primary distribution center for all of Smuckers’ varied products,” says Gino Sabatini, W. P. Carey Managing Director and Co-Head of Global Investments. ”In addition, the transaction demonstrates W. P. Carey’s ability to work with a variety of sellers, including those whose investment time frame is shorter and who are predominantly IRR-focused. Because our strategy is to generate income and cash flow over the longer term, we are an attractive source of liquidity to owners, developers and investors with shorter term investment horizons, as was the case with the Exeter Property Group.”

Located in Chicago’s South Suburban submarket, the modern Class-A distribution center with 32-foot clear height is one of only six distribution centers operated by Smuckers in the U.S.

“We are thrilled to consummate this win-win transaction for Exeter and W. P. Carey. We acquired the property in a non-stabilized condition and utilized Exeter’s development and leasing skills to add value and high investment performance to Exeter’s institutional partners, and are pleased to have made an outstanding asset available to a high quality organization like W. P. Carey,” says Ward Fitzgerald, Exeter CEO.

Logo Courtesy of: www.wpcarey.com