Cofe Properties sells warehouse portfolio near MIA for $25M

Institutional investors are continuing to pay high prices for South Florida industrial properties.

Boston-based AEW Capital Management bought four warehouses at 7200 Northwest 25th Street for $25 million, records show. The price for the
178,521 square feet of industrial properties equates to $140 per square foot, records show.

The seller is Miami-based Cofe Properties. The properties are part of a complex known as Webster Park that was built in 1972. It sits right off the Palmetto Expressway and close to the Miami International Airport.

In 2016, Cofe Properties purchased the warehouses for $16.6 million, records show. The most recent sale represents a 50 percent increase from the last sale price.

South Florida industrial prices have risen significantly in recent years due to a lack of land and a rise in e-commerce. Much of the demand has been caused by growing interest from large institutional investors. Yet some experts project South Florida’s industrial prices will come down as prices have reached a point that may even be too high for large investors.

In Miami-Dade County, rents decreased in the first quarter to $9.47 from $9.70 in the fourth quarter of last year, due to an increase in warehouses delivered, according to a report by Colliers International South Florida.

AEW invests in real estate throughout the world and had close to $75 billion in assets under management in 2018, according to its website.

In 2017, Chicago-based Senior Lifestyle and AEW Capital Management sold a 310-unit luxury senior living complex at 450 East Ocean Drive to an affiliate of Bridge Investment Group for $77.2 million.

Miami-based Cofe Properties has also been active in South Florida. In September, the company sold a 10-parcel industrial portfolio in Medley and Hialeah Gardens for $92.25 million to TA Realty.