Brookfield Acquires 3.6M SF Sun Belt Industrial Portfolio As Buying Spree Continues
Brookfield Asset Management acquired a 3.6M SF Sun Belt industrial portfolio for $428M, adding to a growing list of acquisitions since it said last year it was ready to deploy $106B of dry powder.
New York-based Brookfield's new portfolio consists of 53 light infill industrial assets picked up from Austin-based Stonelake Capital Partners, Brookfield said in a press release. With an average 96% occupancy, properties are in markets like Dallas, Houston, Atlanta and Nashville.
“Given the increased market uncertainty and rising replacement costs over the last several years, particularly in the light industrial space, we believe this transaction represents the opportunity to capitalize on strong supply/demand fundamentals for assets in irreplaceable locations in top markets,” Andy Smith, head of North American logistics investments for Brookfield Asset Management, said in a statement.
Brookfield’s North American logistics footprint now totals more than 75M SF. Brookfield owns, operates or is developing 184M SF of logistics space globally.
The $428M transaction comes a year after Brookfield’s $1.3B acquisition of a 14.6M SF light industrial portfolio from DRA Advisors. That 128-building portfolio spanned 20 metropolitan areas, particularly in the Sun Belt and Midwest, including Atlanta, Houston, Dallas and Tennessee.
During its first-quarter 2024 earnings call, Brookfield said it was ready to increase its transaction activity after a strong start to the year, and it had $106B in dry powder to support that effort.
Brookfield CEO Bruce Flatt said at the time that buying opportunities would come from assets that are “overfinanced or not financed for this environment in general” in the U.S.
In November, Brookfield bought $845M of multifamily properties in Nevada, North Carolina, Arizona and Ohio from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust.
New Jersey’s Valley National Bank sold a $925M performing property loan pool to Brookfield at a 1% discount a month later.
CORRECTION, JULY 14, 3:47 P.M. CT: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported the location of Brookfield’s headquarters. The article has been updated.
