By Jon Peterson
Oak Brook, Ill,-based CenterPoint Properties has a goal of tripling the size of its industrial portfolio in both the greater San Francisco Bay Area/Central Valley and the Puget Sound region.
[contextly_sidebar id=”HpmkiKgcZ84Xfxvx7c6cHim0lri0bUnC”]To accomplish this goal the company has hired Bob Andrews as a senior vice president and regional manager for the company’s West Region portfolio. He will work out of the company’s regional office in Los Angeles.“We would like to be able to triple the size of our portfolio on the West Coast in those two markets through either development or new acquisitions. I think that both of these markets are very strong and have solid demographics going forward,” said Andrews. The growth for the company on the West Coast would also include the Southern California/Los Angeles market.
The company’s current portfolio in the Northern California totals one million square feet and some 150 acres in Manteca in the Central Valley.
“Our interest in San Francisco is in the East Bay, along the I-880/580 corridor from Union City to Richmond. In this region, there are several market factors that we like. There is very strong demand from tenants and a limited amount of land left to build on, which makes the existing properties that much more attractive to own, and [it] creates a situation where adding new product to the market is hard,” said Andrews.
The land that CenterPoint owns in Manteca will soon be getting its first project. This is a 500,000 square foot project that the company soon be starting on a speculative basis. CenterPoint has hired CBRE to be the leasing agent for this project. The company considers the Central Valley region to include the markets of Stockton, Tracy, Lathrop and Manteca.
CenterPoint owns an existing industrial portfolio in Seattle totaling 1.5 million square feet. All of this portfolio is logistic space. It targets existing assets or new development projects in the region of the Kent Valley down to Tacoma. “This is a market that is very tight from an occupancy standpoint and has built-in limits on new development due to a lack of land. Tenant interest in this market is very strong,” said Andrews.
Andrews will work with the regional team of CenterPoint to vet, underwrite and perform due diligence for on-strategy investment opportunities. He is no stranger to the industrial sector. He was a senior vice president and asset manager for KTR Capital Partners in this firm’s Los Angeles office just prior to and during KTR’s sale to San Francisco-based Prologis earlier this year in a transaction valued at $5.9 billion.
CenterPoint has a national investment and development strategy of investing in major coastal and inland port logistic markets anchoring North America’s principal freight lines. Its assets include 52.2 million square feet and 5,500 acres under development in the company’s integrated intermodal industrial parks.
CenterPoint is owned by CalEast Global Logistics. This entity is funded by the California Public Employees Retirement System and managed by Menlo Park-based GI Partners.
