EXCLUSIVE: AEW-Backed JV Stakes $21M Sale-Leaseback

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SUGAR LAND, TX-GSL Industrial Ltd. of Houston and a value-add fund managed by Boston-based AEW Capital Management have acquired the 487,500-sf Suntron Gulf Coast operations facility in a sales-leaseback transaction.

Situated on 40 acres at 1111 Gillingham Lane, the “Gillingham Building,” offered at a $21-million ask by Suntron Corp., is considered one of the largest industrial facilities in Fort Bend County. GSL Industrial purchased the nine-year-old building for just shy of the list price, leasing back 220,500 sf to Suntron for the long term. The new owner plans to lease the 265,000-sf balance to a biotech, high tech or medical manufacturing tenant.

“This isn’t a shrinking or reduction of their workforce. It’s just a rightsizing of their business, which has been going on over the past several years,” Welcome W. Wilson Jr., president of GSL Industrial, tells GlobeSt.com. “They were in a bigger house than they needed and this means they can streamline operations.” Suntron’s lease consideration isn’t available, but Wilson says the ask on the remaining space is $6.60 per sf on a triple-net, annual basis.

Wilson says the acquisition is an important one for GSL Industrial’s portfolio due to the submarket and the overall condition of the building. “The Fort Bend County/Sugar Land market is a tight submarket from an industrial standpoint,” he says. “We identified this building as a good opportunity.”

Suntron had improved the building with upgraded components, flooring, heavy power connectors and back-up generators in the past five years. “The only improvements we need to make would be in connection with the next tenants to accommodate their specific requirements,” Wilson says.

Bob Berry with Staubach Co.’s Houston office represented Suntron. GSL’s John Wilson negotiated for the buyer.