Boston-based TA Realty, one of the largest investment managers, buying and selling, of industrial real estate in the U.S., has acquired the Airport Central Portfolio, a two-building industrial portfolio totaling 340,960 square feet near Denver International Airport. TA Realty acquired the portfolio from institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives.
Jeremy Ballenger, Tyler Carner, Jim Bolt and Jessica Ostermick with CBRE National Partners in Denver, represented J.P. Morgan.
The portfolio includes two multi-tenant distribution buildings located on a cumulative 15 acres at 11777 E 55th Ave. and 11475 E 53rd Ave. The infill location is close to several major interstates and nearby labor pools. The buildings are 93% leased to seven diversified tenants. Current unit sizes range from 19,600 sq. ft. to 86,200 sq. ft. with the ability to demise and combine units in the future, as tenant demand dictates.
The portfolio has clear heights ranging from 24 ft. to 26 ft. with dock-high and drive-in loading, ESFR/wet sprinklers and rail service by Union Pacific.
“The Airport Central Portfolio provided an opportunity to acquire two highly efficient industrial buildings in the most institutionally desired submarket in metro Denver. Investors were intrigued by the near-term cash flow, infill location, and the upside potential in bringing it to full occupancy while raising rents as leases roll,” said Mr. Carner, executive vice president, CBRE.
The Airport Central Portfolio is in metro Denver’s Airport submarket, a target for industrial users due to its proximity to key economic drivers like major interstates and airports. The Airport is Denver’s largest and best-performing industrial submarket locally, according to CBRE research, and it also stands out in relation to other U.S. markets. Denver’s Airport submarket has experienced 20 consecutive years of positive annual net absorption — a measure of net industrial move-ins and move-outs — outpacing the Airport submarkets in Atlanta, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Miami and Chicago, among others.
The Airport Central Portfolio is named for its location in the Airport Central micromarket, a subset of the larger Airport submarket. The Airport Central micromarket is characterized as having some of the lowest industrial vacancy rates in the Denver area. As of the third quarter of 2022, direct vacancy in the Airport Central micromarket was just 4.5%, 260 basis points below the Airport submarket overall, and 320 basis points below the metro area as a whole.