BOSTON– As Greater Boston’s industrial fundamentals continue to strengthen to unprecedented levels, interest from institutional investors continues to grow and broaden into alternative assets, such as cold storage facilities.
JLL’s Capital Markets group recently announced the firm completed the sale of 1 Technology Drive in Peabody, MA, on behalf of New Jersey-based Normandy Real Estate Partners. A partnership between AEW and Griffith Properties purchased the 186,591-square-foot distribution center and freezer facility for $21.7 million.
JLL Managing Director Frank Petz and Vice President George Gregory led the JLL team on the sale.
“1 Tech Drive marked an exciting and rare opportunity to invest in outer urban logistics product in the Boston area,” said Marci Loeber of Griffith Properties. “Griffith is pleased to further our relationship with AEW by partnering on the 1 Tech Drive investment.”
Petz said: “Urban logistics properties such as 1 Tech Drive, with its cold storage infrastructure and extensive outdoor storage, have become highly coveted assets for investors looking to capitalize on ecommerce-driven shifts in consumer behavior. This deal speaks to the high desirability of logistics property in Greater Boston, as there was broad interest in the asset, on a national and global scale.”
The building is in Centennial Park in Peabody, which has access to Route 128 and Route 1, giving tenants direct highway access, especially to Logan Airport. Boston’s overall Class A warehouse market has become incredibly tight, as evidenced by an unprecedented vacancy rate below 5%. Tenant options become even more limited in the submarket north of Boston, where the Class A vacancy rate is below 2.5%.
JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm’s in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether a sale, financing, repositioning, advisory or recapitalization execution. In 2016 alone, JLL Capital Markets completed $136 billion in investment sale and debt and equity transactions globally. The firm’s Capital Markets team comprises more than 2,000 specialists, operating all over the globe.
