By Jack Stubbs
The Puget Sound region’s Kent Valley—which ranges from the city of Kent further south to Sumner, Auburn, and Puyallup, cities all connected by State Route 167—has long been regarded as a key area ripe for investment in and development of industrial/logistics properties, and a recently-recorded transaction indicates that this remains the case heading towards the second quarter of this year.
On February 26th, New York-based investment firm Morgan Stanley, through an entity named PPF Industrial 26524 79th Avenue LLC—spent $19.8 million, or around $203 per square foot, to acquire an under-development warehouse/industrial property, King County records show. The seller of the property was Chicago, IL-based Bridge Development Partners, a firm that develops infill-industrial and cold storage properties in core markets across the U.S.
The subject property, named Bridge Point Kent 100 and located at 26524 79th Ave. S., is scheduled for completion in first quarter 2020 and will ultimately total 97,522 square feet, according to Bridge Development’s web site.
Desirable because of its easily-accessible location near access to major transit corridors like I-5 and State Route 167 in the North Kent Valley, the Class A development offers functional, flexible size configurations for a variety of industrial users. Bridge Point Kent 100, which includes 30-foot clear height and 14 dock-high doors, is approximately ten miles south of Renton and four miles north of Auburn, and is also roughly three miles from access to the South Sounder Rail in Kent.
Founded in 2000, Bridge Development Partners has successfully acquired and developed more than 27 million square feet of industrial buildings/projects valued at more than $3.4 billion since its inception, according to the company’s web site. Currently, Bridge has a strategic joint venture with investment partnerships managed by Banner Oak Capital Partners L.P., a Dallas-based investment advisor.
According to The Registry’s reporting, Bridge was last active in the Pacific Northwest region in September 2018, when it spent $11 million to acquire a 41-acre land-site in Lacey, WA—located in the South Tacoma submarket—where it developed Bridge Point Lacey, a state-of-the-art industrial complex completed in fourth quarter 2019 that totals 705,590 square feet across three buildings.
Some of Bridge’s other underway development in the region include Bridge Point Auburn, a 206,155 square facility located at 701 15th Street SW and slated for completion later this year; Bridge Point Sumner South, a 82,600 square foot property also set to be completed in third quarter 2020.
As of first quarter 2020, industrial properties and development sites remain at a premium, with a shortage of available inventory fueling demand among investors. Partner at Bridge’s Northwest region, Justin Carlucci, stated at the time of the late 2018 transaction: “Bridge Point Lacey represents a rare opportunity for companies in search of distribution space capable of serving the broader Pacific Northwest market. The South Tacoma industrial market is seeing tremendous growth in demand, fueled by a great labor pool, and a lack of available product.”
