BKM Capital Pays $95M For 11-Building Industrial Park in Carson

BKM Capital Partners added another deal to its trail of recent industrial acquisitions, dropping $95 million on an 11-building campus.

The Newport Beach-based investor purchased the Carson Industrial Center at 1000-1124 East Del Amo Boulevard, LA Business First reported. The seller was German asset manager DWS Group.

The deal for the 429,000-square-foot campus works out to $221 per square foot.

Brett Turner and Michael Grossner of BKM represented the buyer in-house. Brokers Jeff Chiate, Rick Ellison, Matthew Leupold and Aubrie Monohan of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller.

The 20-acre complex, built in 1972, last traded in 2015 for $50.8 million, or $118 per square foot.

The property has 20 units with an average size of 21,000 square feet, as well as 79 dock-high and grade-level doors, 14- to 21-foot-clear ceiling heights, parking for 651 cars and private yards.

Tenants include manufacturers, freight logistics groups, luxury handbag distributors and novelty toy importers. Occupancy was 73 percent at the time of sale, according to Rebusiness Online.

BKM plans to spend more than $6 million to revamp the industrial campus. The makeover includes upgrading vacant units, making exterior improvements and installing new signs and landscaping.

Brett Turner, a senior managing director of acquisitions and dispositions at BKM, called it an opportunity buy. Falling prices in Southern California’s industrial market have allowed investment in well-located assets “at a basis that simply wasn’t available a few years ago,” he said.

“While we remain selective in this market, Carson Industrial Center aligned with several priorities we’re focused on today,” Turner added. “The campus offers scale, functional small- and mid-bay buildings, immediate leasing upside and a basis that allows us to invest meaningful capital to reposition the property well for the next phase of tenant demand.”

BKM Capital Partners, founded in 2013 by Brian Malliet, has $5.2 billion in assets under management, including 23.5 million square feet of light industrial properties in 155 business parks in nine states, according to its website.

Last month, BKM and Kayne Anderson Real Estate bought an 8.5 million-square-foot industrial portfolio from Link Logistics for $1.8 billion. The portfolio included 19 properties in Southern California, including one in Carson at 20620 South Leapwood Avenue.

– Dana Bartholomew