With assistance from Stream Realty Partners and Stan Johnson Company, Empire Holdings has sold a nine-building national industrial portfolio to Philadelphia-based Arden Group, a leading U.S. middle-market real estate fund manager.
Arden Group purchased the approximately 350,000-square-foot, single-tenant portfolio that includes assets across five states. Ranging from 16,000 square feet to 150,000 square feet, the properties are strategically located in major industrial markets with low building coverage and boast outside storage or excess land with opportunities for future growth or expansion.
Stream Executive Managing Director and Partner Seth Koschak and Vice President of the Fort Worth Industrial division Jeff Rein represented the seller in the transaction. The national real estate services, development, and investment company is headquartered in Texas, where five of the nine warehouses are located. In addition, Zach Harris and Jeff Hughes of Stan Johnson Company partnered with Stream to co-represent the seller in the transaction.
“After an extensive evaluation of the nation’s top brokerage teams to assist with this sales process, we selected Stream Realty and Stan Johnson Company as our trusted partners,” said Bowie Holland, president of Empire Holdings. “We were particularly impressed with their substantial due diligence on our portfolio and the innovative marketing strategies they brought to the table. We look forward to many more collaborations in the future.”
The deal included eight freestanding net-leased industrial buildings in the Texas markets of Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio as well as Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Memphis, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; and Tulsa, Oklahoma. A speculative industrial building in Houston that just completed construction also was part of the transaction.
“With the supply of available IOS properties becoming more limited, this portfolio represented a unique opportunity to acquire stabilized outside storage assets throughout strategic markets nationally,” Rein said. “Empire Holdings is an experienced operator, which is reflected throughout the portfolio with well-maintained buildings and above-standard finishes. We are excited to have identified a partner in Arden Group with their growing presence and focus within the IOS / ISF sector.”
Buildings in more than two-thirds of the portfolio were built between 1999 and now. All offer stable tenancy in their respective markets.
“This portfolio acquisition is part of our investment focus on Industrial Service Facilities (ISF), including industrial outdoor storage sites, truck terminals, trailer parking and last mile port facilities in core U.S. markets,” said Christian Vergilio, Director of Acquisitions for Arden Logistics Parks.
Arden recently formed a $1B Joint Venture specifically focused on acquiring ISFs, or low site coverage industrial assets, situated in dense, infill locations. “The Empire Portfolio is emblematic of the types of partnerships we are looking to form with users in the ISF space and we look forward to continuing the relationship with the team,” Vergilio noted.
Koschak, along with Executive Managing Director and Partner Matteson Hamilton, helped Stream expand its national platform in February 2022 by launching an Industrial Capital Markets division beginning in Texas. The service centralizes the investment sale process for transactions such as the Empire Holdings deal to create opportunity and value for the firm’s clients. The group specializes in investment sales and acquisitions, equity and fund placement, debt placement, and other services that provide real-time market data and trend analysis.
