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Hot deal for cold storage: Truist buys, leases back Quirch Foods’ Medley site
Atlanta-based investment banking firm acquired cold-storage facility for $59M in a sale-leaseback deal
Truist Securities paid $59.4 million for a national food distributor’s cold storage facility in Medley.
An entity managed by Allison Mcleod, a managing director for the Atlanta-based investment banking firm, acquired the 178,000-square-foot warehouse at 7600 Northwest 82nd Place, records show. Led by CEO John Gregg, Truist Securities is part of Charlotte-based Truist Financial.
Coral Gables-based Quirch Foods sold the property in a sale-leaseback deal that breaks down to about $333 per square foot.
Max La Cava and Brian Shanfeld led a JLL team that represented Quirch Foods, a press release states. The building on the 15-acre site was completed in 2001, records show.
In a statement, La Cava said the Medley property received interest from an array of investors because Quirch Foods remaining at the facility provides an attractive yield and guaranteed cash flow. It’s also a favorable deal for Quirch Foods because the company gets a significant infusion of capital while maintaining control of the cold-storage facility, La Cava said.
Founded in 1967, Quirch Foods signed a 10-year lease with extension options until 2062 at the Medley facility, records show. The company imports and distributes mostly meat food products and operates 23 facilities in 10 states and Puerto Rico, according to Quirch Foods’ website.
Nationwide, investor appetite for cold storage facilities is rising, according to a June CBRE report. Nearly 40 percent of respondents to an investor survey are pursuing freezer warehouses this year, up from 22 percent last year, CBRE found.
Freezer warehouses are at a premium in South Florida due to low inventory for cold-storage facilities amid high demand for such properties. In May, North Sioux City, Iowa-based Vertical Cold Storage paid $66 million, or $240 a square foot, for a Medley freezer warehouse spanning nearly 275,000 square feet.
In December, Acme Smoked Fish Group acquired a cold storage and food processing facility in Pompano Beach for $15.8 million. Acme paid roughly $366 per square foot for the 43,000-square-foot building.