Gladstone Buys Industrial Asset, Enhances Florida Portfolio
Gladstone Commercial Corporation GOOD recently shelled out $19.1 million for the acquisition of industrial portfolio in Ocala, FL. The move is in sync with the company’s efforts to strengthen its portfolio with high-quality assets in thriving markets with credit-worthy tenants.
Specifically, the 383,000 square foot, two industrial building portfolio, which is acquired in a sale/lease back deal, is fully leased to Signature Brands, LLC. The building at 1900 Southwest 38th Avenue is a 207,000-square-foot industrial building built in 2001, and expanded in 2010. This functions as the popcorn manufacturing and distribution facility.
The other building at 808 Southwest 12th Street spans 176,000 square foot and is used for the manufacturing of decorative baking products. Signature Brands has a lease term of 20 years. Situated in North Central Florida, along I-75, the facilities serve as principal operational center. Signature Brands has invested more than $15 million in the popcorn manufacturing facility and the company intends to carry on functioning in these facilities for upcoming years.
The acquisition of this portfolio is a strategic fit for Gladstone Commercial. It not only helped strategic expansion in the healthy secondary Florida markets but also improved the weighted average lease term and enhanced the share of high-quality industrial properties in Gladstone’s portfolio.
Also, the company’s industrial portfolio expansion will likely help drive growth, as high consumer spending, e-commerce boom and a healthy manufacturing environment amid recovering economy and job market are spurring demand for the real estate category. This is stoking growth of Gladstone Commercial, as well as other REITs, including Prologis, Inc. PLD, Duke Realty Corp. DRE and Liberty Property Trust LPT.
As such for Gladstone Commercial, which is focused on acquiring, owning and operating net leased industrial and office properties across the United States, this latest acquisition is likely to be accretive to its earnings and drive long-term growth.
Gladstone Commercial currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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