FEBRUARY 22, 2022
ASB and Endurance Joint Venture Acquire 929,250 Square-Foot Light Industrial Portfolio in Berks County, Pennsylvania for $77.6 Million
Reading, PA — ASB Real Estate Investments (ASB) today announced the acquisition of a 929,250 square-foot industrial portfolio, Lehigh Valley West Industrial Portfolio, located in Berks County, PA for $77.6 million in a joint venture with an affiliate of Endurance Real Estate Group (Endurance). ASB made the investment on behalf of its Allegiance Real Estate Fund, a $8.3 billion core vehicle.
Of the portfolio’s 12 buildings, nine buildings totaling 466,420 square feet are located in the Berks Corporate Center, a dynamic concentration of infill, light industrial facilities providing direct access to a multi-directional interchange at PA Route 61 and US Route 222 in Reading, PA. 184 Tuckerton Road, the largest building in the portfolio with 392,030 square feet, is located across the street from the Berks Corporate Center in the Route 61 Distribution Center. 10 Vanguard Drive, a multi-tenanted 57,600 square-foot shallow bay facility, and 650 Lincoln Road, a single tenanted 13,200 square-foot light industrial building are situated within the Lincoln Corporate Center, approximately 12 miles southeast of the Reading buildings via Routes 61 and 422. The portfolio is well leased to a variety of tenants ranging from large multinational corporations to regional service-oriented companies.
Located just west of the Lehigh Valley, this prime location provides easy access to exceptional highway infrastructure that places six of the top 10 U.S. MSAs and 60% of the Canadian population within a one-day truck drive. In addition, companies are attracted to the Reading area for its ample blue-collar labor pool as Berks County is the second-best market along the I-78/I-81 PA Corridor per its ratio of residents to warehouse square footage and its proximity to Philadelphia, Baltimore, New York City, and Washington, D.C.
Brodie Ruland, ASB Managing Director and Co-Head of Acquisitions, said: “This investment provides an excellent opportunity to own a well located, infill industrial portfolio with access to a strong labor base and proximity to one of the premier industrial markets in the country. The Lehigh Valley offers a robust labor pool and is situated within two hours of New York ports and within a one-day drive of 48% of the U.S. population.”
“This acquisition continues one of our long-term strategies of buying well-located but difficult to replace light industrial assets,” added Jared Newman, Senior Vice President of Acquisitions for Endurance. “We remain bullish on Berks County, and specifically the Reading-area submarket, as we have been for more than a decade.” Separately, Endurance also recently completed three Class A warehouses in the Reading area known as Berks 61, 270,000 square feet and Berks 222, 160,212 square feet, and 167,492 square feet.
The acquisition adds to ASB’s $ 1.5 billion in industrial asset purchases since 2018. Its nationwide industrial portfolio across most major distribution markets now totals more than 13.3 million square feet. The investment is ASB’s fifth with Endurance Real Estate Group. The National Partners Team of CBRE arranged the sale on behalf of Continental Capital Partners, a private investment firm, based in Virginia Beach.
About ASB Real Estate Investments
ASB Real Estate Investments (ASB), a division of ASB Capital Management, LLC, is a leading U.S. real estate investment management firm with more than $8.9 billion in gross assets under management for over 320 institutional clients. Headquartered in Washington DC, ASB invests in major U.S. markets, concentrating in office, multifamily, retail, industrial and self-storage properties and employs core, value add and development strategies for its clients.
*as of December 31, 2021
The portfolio investments described herein are not representative of all ASB portfolio investments. It should not be assumed that other portfolio investments will have the same or similar characteristics. There can be no assurance that any such trends will continue. The information provided in the release does not constitute an offer to sell or buy securities or the solicitation of an offer to sell or buy securities. ASB Allegiance Real Estate Fund is a registered mark in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.