New York REIT doubles down on Central Florida with $22 million warehouse buy in Lakeland
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Feb 12, 2021

Lexington Realty Trust, which closed a massive warehouse deal in Ocala last summer, has added to its Central Florida portfolio with a Lakeland property.

An affiliate of the New York-based real estate investment trust paid $22.25 million for the 222,134-square-foot warehouse at 5275 Drane Field Road in Lakeland, Colliers International said Friday.

Ryan Vaught, Robyn Hurrell and Oliver de la Croix-Vaubois of Colliers represented the seller, Bobeck Real Estate. Lexington, which paid $58.4 million for an Amazon warehouse in Ocala last year, did not have an outside broker. The sales price breaks down to more than $100 per square foot — a big jump from a similar property that sold in 2018 for $82 per square foot, according to Colliers.

“What’s interesting is seeing the amount of qualified interest for an asset in Lakeland, even with the occupancy only being 53%,” Vaught said in a statement. “It’s further evidence of the compelling amount of capital in the industrial market right now.”

The warehouse sits on more than 19 acres and is just over half occupied by Motion Industries, which leases 117,440 square feet there.

“The buyer’s willingness to acquire a property at 53% occupancy speaks to the strength of the industrial sector and the demand throughout the Interstate 4 corridor for logistics occupiers," Vaught said. "This acquisition aligns with the trend we’re seeing of industrial investors being willing to take a risk in buying vacancy in order to get a discount compared to the pricing of stabilized, Class A core assets.”