By Jack Stubbs
Newport Beach, CA-based BKM Capital Partners, a fund manager that acquires and improves light industrial properties throughout the Western U.S., recently acquired a 19-building industrial property in Kent, which has long been regarded as a hub in the Puget Sound region for industrial investment and redevelopment opportunities.
On October 1st, BKM spent $30.5 million to acquire the West Valley Business Park—an industrial campus totaling approximately 210,000 square feet—from West Valley Partners LLC, an entity affiliated with Entera Management Company based in Kent, public records show.
The West Valley Business Park, located at 6601 S. 190th St. and 19200 66th Ave. S., includes nineteen light industrial buildings totaling approximately 210,000 square feet, according to public documents.
The property description on Entera Management Company’s web site emphasizes the ideal location of the campus, which allows easy access to major transit corridors like I-5 and I-405, and also offers visibility from the corner of West Valley Highway and 196th Street.
The asset is roughly three miles north of downtown Kent via State Route 181, five miles from Renton to the north, and also sits roughly four miles east of Sea-Tac airport.
West Valley Business Park, which spans roughly 24.5 acres, according to public documents, includes grade-level loading doors, on-site parking, and conference rooms equipped with AV equipment and Wifi.
The Kent Valley, ranging from from Kent to Puyallup and encompasses cities like Sumner and Auburn, continues to see attract investor interest, with steady employment growth and the expansion of e-commerce companies just a couple of factors driving demand in the submarket.
The last few weeks have marked an active period for the Kent submarket, in particular, with several properties having traded hands. In early August—several weeks on from another mid-June acquisition of a 102,000 square foot warehouse property in Kent— Denver, Colorado-based Black Creek Group purchased another industrial property in Kent for $9.8 million, this time a 63,000 square foot warehouse/distribution facility located at 19027 72nd Ave. S.
In mid-August, JLL announced that it had closed on the $39 million sale of Creeksides at Centerpoint—a three-building suburban office campus totaling 218,650 square feet—on behalf of Menashe Properties.
Boston-based TA Realty recently acquired four industrial properties totaling 120,000 square feet in Auburn and Kent—with two class C industrial/flex buildings located at 18852 72nd Ave. S. in Kent comprising 59,000 square feet of that figure—for a combined $22 million.
