Clear Height Properties has completed a 15-property, $55 million recapitalization through the formation of a joint venture partnership with Harbert U.S. Real Estate, an investment strategy sponsored by Harbert Management Corporation (“HMC”). The transaction marks HMC’s entry into the Chicago industrial market. It also provides a level of capital that Clear Height will use as it pursues the goal of doubling in size over the next twelve months.
The 15 assets total over 1,000,000 square feet with more than 130 tenants. The assets included in the recapitalization are located throughout the Chicago metro area and typically are multi-tenant facilities that are approximately 90 percent occupied.
This transaction represents HMC’s second investment in the Chicago market in the last two years.
HMC seeks income and capital appreciation through a diverse portfolio of real estate investments. HMC and its affiliates have owned, developed and managed multifamily, office, industrial, retail and hotel properties throughout the United States. HMC’s approach is hands-on, targeting properties that it believes are undervalued, and where value can be created through focused operational and financial management. HMC seeks transactions typically between $20 million and $80 million that are too large for individual investors but too small for the larger funds.
The recapitalization of these assets continues the evolution and progression of Clear Height Properties which currently has a portfolio that exceeds $250 million in assets under a three-pronged acquisition philosophy that has focused on:
· Value-Add Light Industrial—facilities that are two rights off the expressway, are in in-fill locations, that are single or multi-tenant, and over 30,000 SF
· Core-Plus Industrial—typically newly developed, single tenant net leased facilities with some level of future value creation to it.
· Suburban Office—well-located assets in the first tier outside of the city that are in need of renovation and repositioning to bring them in line with market expectations.
Clear Height Properties was represented in the transaction by the Industrial Capital Markets team at JLL, including: Robin Stolberg, Senior Director Industrial Capital Markets; Kurt Sarbaugh, Senior Director Industrial Capital Markets; and John Huguenard, Co-Head and Senior Managing Director, Industrial Capital Markets.
