Blackstone’s South Florida industrial sell-off is chugging along with the $90.2 million sale of three Miami-Dade warehouses.
Including its latest divestiture, the New York-based investment giant and its subsidiary, Link Logistics, have unloaded 34 industrial properties in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties for nearly $1 billion since November.
In the latest deal, buyer East Capital Partners continued expanding its Miami-Dade industrial portfolio with the acquisition of Airport Trade Center, the three-building complex 367,848 square feet at 3108, 3207 and 3308 Northwest 72nd Avenue near Doral, records and real estate database Vizzda shows.
Darien, Connecticut-based East Capital, led by David Archibald and Drew DeWitt, partially financed the purchase with two loans totaling $62.3 million from Pacific Coast Capital Partners, records show.
An affiliate of Blackstone, led by Stephen Schwarzman, and Link, led by Luke Petherbridge, paid $56 million for the 13.8-acre site in 2019, records show. The buildings were completed in 1972.
Including Airport Trade Center, Blackstone and Link have been the sellers in five major industrial deals over the past eight months. During that span, South Florida’s industrial market has shown signs of settling down after consecutive years of historic rent growth and low single-digit vacancy rates. Landlords across the tri-county region experienced less tenant demand in the first quarter, and some warehouse owners lowered asking rents, according to a recent CBRE report.
In April, Blackstone and its subsidiary sold three industrial sites in Dania Beach and Miramar to Los Angeles-based Ares Management for a combined $120.5 million. The affiliated firms sold another three industrial properties in Sunrise to Miami-based Elion Partners for $206.5 million in December. The same month, Boston-based TA Realty paid Blackstone and Link $160 million for an Opa-Locka warehouse complex.
And in November, Blackstone and Link sold a 26-property industrial portfolio across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties for $331.3 million. Boston-based Longpoint Partners bought the portfolio.
East Capital entered South Florida’s industrial market in January of last year. The firm and its partner, Baltimore, Maryland-based ABR Capital, acquired a Medley mixed-use complex with two office buildings and six warehouses for $38.5 million. Four months later, East Capital dropped $17.5 million for eight warehouses and a storage yard near Medley.
In October, East Capital bought an Aventura warehouse complex for $48 million.
