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Week of August 13, 2004 |
| California investor pays $9 million for industrial property By Samantha JosephA San Francisco real estate investment trust has added a $9 million property to its Miami portfolio and expects to invest another $20 million in two more local projects by the end of next year. Continuing to strengthen its foothold in Miami-Dade County's industrial market, AMB Property Corp. purchased a former plating plant in Seaboard/Gratigny Industrial Park in July. The deal added about 230,000 square feet of warehouse space to AMB's holdings and brought its local space to more than 6 million square feet. AMB expects to finish another project, the $9.8 million MIA Logistics Center, next to Miami International Airport, by the end of the year. It expects to start work by December 2005 on Beacon Lakes, a 438-acre site being developed with the Codina Group. A 207,000-square-foot building, the first of several planned, will have an estimated $10 million price tag. The company's Miami-Dade warehouses are an important part of global business, a spokeswoman said. AMB has regional offices in Chicago, Boston, Amsterdam, Shanghai and Tokyo. It started investing in Miami-Dade in 1996, and its business here accounts for about 6% of its global holdings. "Our strategy is to be a global provider of distribution space in hub and gateway markets generally tied to global trade," said marketing manager Rachel McKosky. "Miami is one of the US' key transportation-hub markets and a critical gateway to trade with Latin America." She said the county's dominance in trade is the "No. 1 reason" behind AMB's drive to invest here. Miami International Airport, which handles the highest tonnage of international air cargo in the US, and heavy container traffic at South Florida's seaports make Miami "the gateway city to Latin America," she said. "Our focus on airport and seaport cargo facilities has filled an important niche in the market," Ms. McKosky said. AMB now owns about 1 million square feet in six warehouses at Seaboard/Gratigny. "They control about 15% of the park," said CB Richard Ellis first vice president Michael Silver. It purchased two buildings at 3595 NW 125th St., near the north campus of Miami Dade College. The property had belonged to Edron Fixture Corp., a Fortune 500 company that makes chrome fixtures for department stores. "AMB has been doing a lot of buying in Miami," said Mr. Silver. "The industrial real estate investment trusts all want to be here. They all would like significant holdings in the Miami-Dade County industrial market." |
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