News
PANATTONI GOES HOG WILD
August 24, 2011
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| We had a chat the other day with Panattoni's Reid Townsend about torque and hogs. That's because Reid is heading up the company's efforts to lease out a newly acquired 194k SF warehouse facility that was formerly used by Harley-Davidson Motor Co for its parts storage and distribution center. Reid (his biker outfit not seen here) tells us the opportunity to buy a big block of Class-A DC space in a submarket that is only 5% vacant was too good to pass up. “I think it's safe to say we bought it below replacement cost,” he says. |
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| Here's the warehouse at 75 Steamboat Blvd, in the York County submarket off Exit 24 along I-83. The '03 facility was a build-to-suit for Harley-Davidson, which vacated in July. (Presumably to join the Sons of Anarchy.) The warehouse also is the third purchase in PA for Panattoni since its newly formed $1.5B PanCal JV with CalSTERS, which is seeking value-add industrial deals nationwide. But so far, the fund has a real love for PA. It purchased a 38-acre site in Camp Bill where Panattoni plans a 550k SF distribution center, and a 116-acre site outside Carlisle for two warehouses that will total 1.8M SF. Reid says tenant activity for bulk industrial properties has been “very brisk” throughout the Philly MSA in 2011. “We're seeing significant tenant demand and absorption in Pennsylvania and a return of new construction on the horizon.” |
