12/10/2016

Ascentris Continues to Execute its Industrial Investment Strategy and Successfully Sells over 2.6M Square Feet Representing Over $175M in Total Property Value

Ascentris Executes on Industrial Strategy: over 2.6M Square Feet and $175M in Sales

Denver, CO (December 10, 2016) Ascentris continues to successfully execute an industrial strategy it started to implement in 2013, having either acquired or developed 4.6M square feet and subsequently selling over 2.6M square feet in total.

The strategy targeted two profiles of properties in the industrial sector in order to capitalize on shifting demographic and logistics trends. The new logistics models resulted in greater demand for regional distribution centers in strategic locations across the United States as well as increased demand for smaller, more local facilities which deliver e-commerce goods to consumers in a quick turnaround environment. “We recognized an outstanding opportunity to be early into the industrial development cycle so we concentrated our efforts in markets that were undersupplied and indicated increased tenant demand,” said Tricia Noble, Managing Director of Ascentris. “As a result, we partnered with some of the strongest development companies in the country and developed 11 buildings totaling over 2.3M square feet in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, and Portland,” added Noble.

In addition to developing state-of-the-art distribution buildings, Ascentris also acquired a significant industrial portfolio across various markets in the United States, including Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis, Dallas, and the Inland Empire. “As we were developing, we also recognized that there was an opportunity to aggregate a highly attractive portfolio of operating properties through the acquisition of smaller multi- or single-tenant industrial buildings that serve the local populations of these high growth markets,” Noble said.

When combining the two strategies, Ascentris has acquired or developed 22 industrial buildings totaling 4.6M sf, since 2013, and completed sales totaling more than $175M in total property value.

“Over the past three years, we have found very attractive opportunities in the industrial sector,” said Rob Toomey, President of Ascentris. “However, we have seen a tremendous amount of liquidity in the capital markets resulting in continued downward pressure on both cap rates and development yields,” added Toomey. “At this point in the cycle, Ascentris is being very selective when evaluating industrial opportunities that are presented to us and we have chosen to focus on infill locations in markets and submarkets that we believe will exhibit strong population and employment growth and favorable supply and demand fundamentals over the intermediate term,” said Toomey.