HSA COMPLETES NEARLY 1 MILLION SF IN INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY ACQUISITIONS SINCE LABOR DAY

Jack Shaffer, chairman, HSA Commercial Real Estate, announced the firm’s latest acquisition: a 336,000-square-foot fully-leased industrial facility at 4219 Air Trans Road in Memphis, Tenn. Taking advantage of favorable prices and the ability to obtain capital through the efforts of HSA’s finance division, HSA has purchased nearly 1 million square feet of industrial properties since Labor Day.

"Our acquisition arm continues to see opportunities as we further add to our portfolio," said Shaffer, "and our long-standing reputation for honoring our commitments is serving us well in this current financial crisis." Indeed, HSA's finance division, led by executive vice president Melissa Pielet, has worked closely with a variety of lenders that HSA has maintained close relationships with over the years to obtain the needed capital to finance these deals.

Eric Ogden, senior vice president of HSA's acquistion division, was instrumental sourcing these opportunities, all fully leased. The most recent acquisitions are:

4219 Air Trans Road, Memphis, TN. – a 336,000-square-foot industrial building in the dominant Southeast Submarket of Memphis, fully leased on a long-term basis to International Cotton Depot. Constructed in 1974, the property has undergone significant renovation in the past 5 years and has easy access to Memphis International Airport. The facility has active rail spur access to BNSF lines through the services of R.J. Corman Railroad Group. HSA is a major presence in the Memphis industrial market, owning 2.6 million square feet of properties. The seller was represented by Michael Caprile and Johnny Lamberson of CB Richard Ellis.
5321 Shelby Drive, Memphis, TN. - a warehousing facility similar to Air Trans Road, 344,400-square-foot Shelby Drive was purchased in September and is fully-leased by the previous owner, Crews, a manufacturer/distributor of industrial safety gear. It is also located in the Southeast Submarket and has similar easy access to Memphis International Airport. The seller was represented in the transaction by Hank Martin with NAI Saig Co.
10277 Venice Drive, Sturtevant, WI. – This 192,500-square-foot property is just off Interstate 94 near Racine, Wis. Constructed in 2002, with an addition in 2005, it is fully leased to two tenants, Allstates Trucking Inc., and Bway Manufacturing. The seller was represented by Todd Torok of Lee & Associates.
1950 Duncan Place, Woodstock, IL. – Fully leased to Commonwealth Edison, a wholly owned subsidiary of Exelon Corp., the building is 28,680 square feet and serves as a warehouse/storage area for ComEd’s installation and repair crews in the Far Northwest Suburban market. The seller, a private investment group, was represented by Pat Sullivan of Commerce Capital.
21151 South Northern Illinois Drive, Channahon, IL. – Also fully leased to Commonwealth Edison, this facility is 28,680 square feet and serves a similar function for ComEd in the western I-80 corridor. Owned by the same investment group as 1950 Duncan Place, it was also represented by Pat Sullivan.

In addition to the above transactions, HSA recently broke ground on two new industrial buildings totaling 448,610 square feet in Mt. Pleasant, WI., along I-94 in Racine County. The new facilities include one of the first LEED-certified warehouses in the region and constitute the first phase of HSA’s new Park 94 at Mt. Pleasant, which is slated to include up to seven or more buildings. Craig Phillips, executive vice president and director of HSA’s development division, is managing this project.

“We believe that HSA is well positioned to meet the challenges ahead,” continued Shaffer, “and we will continue to make sensible and knowledgeable decisions about where we think the market is heading. We expect to continue our acquisition and development activity with several more announcements to be made in the coming months.”

Celebrating 27 years of excellence in commercial real estate, Chicago-based HSA Commercial Real Estate is a full-service real estate firm specializing in office, industrial, retail and health care real estate leasing, management, marketing, development and financing on a national basis. Along with developing all kinds of commercial real estate across the United States, its brokerage divisions have completed more than 7,500 transactions in 43 states representing both owners and tenants, the asset management division currently manages a property portfolio in excess of 16.5 million square feet in 15 states and the firm presently owns over 17 million square feet of commercial property in 14 states.