By Jack Stubbs
On Thursday, December 27th, a warehouse/distribution center in Sumner, Washington, sold for $41.05 million, or approximately $156 per square foot, Pierce County records show. The buyer was Sumner Distribution Center ILP LLC, an entity affiliated with Bentall Kennedy’s office based in San Francisco, and the seller was Auburn-based Island Kidz LLC, the owners of Toysmith Corporation, a wholesaler and distributor of toys and gifts to toy and gift stores nationwide.
The subject property, located at 3101 W. Valley Hwy. E., is a warehouse/distribution facility that totals 282,899 square feet, according to the property listing on realtytrac.com. Constructed in 2009, the asset sits on 12.22 acres.
Located adjacent to Washington State Route 167, the property is approximately three miles north of downtown Sumner and six miles south of Auburn. Additionally, the property is also about 6.5 miles northeast of Puyallup.
Sitting in the heart of the Kent Valley, Sumner has long been a hub in the Puget Sound region’s industrial and logistics market, and the recent sale indicates that demand in the area continues. Additionally, in late May, 2018, Colorado-based DCT Industrial acquired a roughly 117,800 square foot industrial storage warehouse located at 3003 West Valley Highway E.—which is adjacent to the distribution center—for $19.75 million, or approximately $168 per square foot, from Sumner Building LLC.
And in mid-June 2018, Real estate investment company Bertch Capital Partners acquired 17 useable acres in Sumner for $5.8 million where the company plans develop two, Class A, state-of-the-art warehouses that will total over 200,000 square feet. The two warehouses are expected to be completed sometime in 2019.
Bertch Capital made this purchase for several reasons with a focus on location, according to Colliers International’s press release about the acquisition. The property is in heart of one of the most dynamic industrial markets in the Puget Sound. Sumner is seeing strong tenant demand, especially for newer buildings that create an impressive company image. This environment has resulted in limited options and a very low vacancy rate in the city and across the Kent Valley.
