Liberty Property Trust has completed the acquisition of the operating partnership of Cabot Industrial Value Fund III for a purchase price of $1.5 billion. Locally, the purchase includes 24 buildings in the Chicago metropolitan area, adding 3.2 million square feet of industrial space and bringing Liberty’s total portfolio under management in the market to 11.2 million square feet.
“This acquisition is tremendously exciting to us because it expands our reach and depth across the region,” said Don Schoenheider, vice president and city manager, Liberty Property Trust. “We are entering new submarkets such as O’Hare, the largest submarket in the region, as well as going deeper into Central DuPage County and the I-55 Corridor. It also gives us a more diverse product, including small- and medium-size multi-tenant buildings in addition to the eight million square feet of primarily Class A ‘big box’ space we have spent the last decade developing and acquiring.”
Liberty entered the Chicago metropolitan market in 2003 with the purchase of 1.3 million square feet of industrial space and 100 acres of land. Today, the company owns and manages industrial buildings in the major Chicago industrial submarkets, including the I-88 Corridor and the I-80 market.
“Another advantage is that we can now offer our national tenants and customers property choices from coast-to-coast,” Schoenheider said. “It gives us multiple types and sizes of buildings in nearly 30 markets overall. The opportunities have increased exponentially.”
The transaction has increased Liberty’s national industrial platform by approximately 23 million square feet and added 177 properties in 24 new and existing Liberty industrial markets. Approximately 58 percent of the total portfolio is located in existing Liberty industrial markets, including Chicago, South Florida, Houston, New Jersey, Maryland and Central Pennsylvania.
The remaining approximately 10 million square feet are located in 10 markets in which Liberty does not currently have a presence, including Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth and Southern California, which combined comprise 21 percent of the Cabot square footage.
The acquisition has been funded through a combination of sources including proceeds of $834.1 million from an offering of 24,150,000 common shares, proceeds from the offering of $450 million of 4.40 percent senior notes due 2024 and the assumption of $230 million in mortgage debt.
For a complete list of properties acquired, click here.
