Crown Acquires More Than 1M SF for $30M

MEMPHIS, TN-California-based Crown Realty & Development has acquired two single-tenant occupied warehouses in Memphis, TN and Gastonia, NC for $30.3 million. The facilities acquired were the 646,160-sf Meritex Logistics Distribution Center at 4836 Hickory Hill in Memphis and the 541,609-sf Wix Master Distribution Center at 1551 Mount Olive Church in Gastonia.

The Meritex facility, which includes 114,800 sf of air-conditioned space, is within one of four general purchase foreign trade zones in the Memphis area, and possesses active rail spurs with service provided by Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The building provides access to Interstate 240, Highway 78 and the Memphis International Airport, which is less than 10 miles west.

The Wix facility is on 37 acres about five miles west of downtown Charlotte. The property is near Interstate 85, and provides access to Interstates 75, 26, 77, 40 and 95.

These two acquisitions follow the company’s purchase of a 13-building office/industrial portfolio at Imperial Center Business Park in Durham, NC in December for $115 million. Crown Realty chief investment officer Scott San Filippo tells GlobeSt.com that the company had traditionally operated in California and Phoenix, but decided to invest in the Southeast due to its strong fundamentals. “We’re very bullish on Tennessee, the Carolinas, Florida and Texas,” Filippo says. “We acquired these assets because they are functional real estate with a good tenant in place.”

Crown Realty senior analyst James Mohon represented the company in the Memphis transaction, which was brokered by a CB Richard Ellis investment sales team, including Johnny Lamberson and Frank Quinn. Crown EVP Ken Groat represented the company in the Gastonia transaction, which was brokered by a Michigan-based Cushman & Wakefield investment sales team, including executive director Jeffrey Shell and associate director John Ecclestone. Filippo says the company is planning to invest $300 to $500 million in the Southeast in the next 12 to 18 months and anticipates closing a deal in South Carolina in the next few weeks.