Avison Young’s Chicago office has secured the exclusive sale listing for a 1.75-million-square-foot trucking terminal portfolio with properties in core logistics markets across the United States. The portfolio is owned by CenterPoint Properties and includes 54 truck terminals in key industrial markets, including Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia, among others.
Avison Young principals Erik Foster and Mike Wilson, based in Chicago and head of the firm’s national industrial capital markets group, are leading the sale efforts and are representing CenterPoint Properties, based in Oak Brook, Illinois. Local market assistance will be provided by Burr & Temken, along with Cushman and Wakefield.
“As e-commerce continues its strong growth trajectory, the trucking industry has become a vital component of the logistics networks that deliver goods across the country,” said Foster. “This expansive trucking property portfolio will allow an investor to scale up quickly with a national presence that includes core industrial markets as well as secondary markets that are on a fast growth track.”
The portfolio has a strong geographic diversification, with many properties located in growing population centers with access to the nation’s top rail, port and airport distribution hubs. Most properties are single-tenant properties, leased to top tier logistics tenants, including FedEx, UPS, YRC Inc., Amazon, XPO Logistics and SAIA Motor Freight Line, among others. Approximately 60 percent of the portfolio’s square footage is in the Northeast (New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and other cities), with the Midwest having nearly 20 percent of properties, located in Chicago, Milwaukee, South Bend, Indianapolis, Columbus, Cleveland and other cities.
There are three Chicago-area properties, totaling 55,081 square feet—720 Greenleaf Avenue and 2300 Landmeier Road, both in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, and 11201 Irving Park Road in Franklin Park, Illinois.
Truck terminals operate as a supply chain management tool that allows companies to sort and re-organize incoming freight and facilitate the rapid and high-volume handling and movement of goods to their final destination. A retailer utilizes these facilities to decrease delivery times to keep their competitive advantage and turn over product at a higher velocity.
“Due to limited supply and end-user ownership, truck terminals are highly fragmented and underinvested in by institutional players,” Foster said. “These facilities offer excellent fundamentals and allow investors the opportunity to optimize the e-commerce supply chain, which is currently outpacing the rest of the economy.”
