An affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management just picked up a C.R. Laurence distribution center in Sunrise for $8.45 million, property records show.
The company paid about $140 per square foot for the 60,000-square-foot facility at 14290 Northwest Fourth Street. Noran Company, led by Donald Friese, the CEO and former owner of global glazing system manufacturer C.R. Lawrence, is the seller.
He paid $3.7 million for the nearly 4-acre property in 2007. In 2015, Friese sold C.R. Laurence to a subsidiary of the Irish building material company CRH for $1.3 billion.
Records show the warehouse is part of a nationwide 24-property portfolio deal valued at $289 million. Brookfield financed the acquisitions with a $148.3 million loan from Principal Life Insurance Company.
The Sunrise deal comes on the heels of a $27.25 million sale of a nearby office building by a partnership led by Starwood. The area has attracted a number of major companies like Ford, Fidelity Information Systems, AT&T and American Express.
Brookfield, a Toronto-based global asset manager with more than $285 billion in assets under management, has been actively investing in South Florida properties. In June, it purchased the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina for $170.6 million, and is reportedly under contract to buy the PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens for $255 million.
The latest Sunrise deal is in line with the trend of Canadian investment in South Florida properties. Year-to-date as of August, foreign investors from Canada have pumped more than $389 million into South Florida commercial assets. In 2017 the number was close to $776 million.