Sterling buys Pompano Beach warehouse, amid uptick in industrial deals

Sterling Investors picked up a fully leased warehouse in Pompano Beach, amid an uptick in South Florida industrial investment sales. 

The New York-based real estate investment firm paid $24.3 million for the building at 4000 North Dixie Highway, according to records and real estate database Vizzda. The selling entity ties to Bellevue, Washington-based Farmers New World Life Insurance Company and to Zurich Insurance Group’s New York-based investment arm Zurich Alternative Asset Management, state corporate records show. 

Jose Lobón and Trey Barry were part of the CBRE team that represented the seller. 

Sean Bannon and Gala Liana were part of the Zurich Alternative Asset Management team that represented their firm. 

The nearly 128,000-square-foot building is fully leased to sea salts and seasonings manufacturer and supplier The Spice Lab. The family run and woman-owned company is led by Jennifer Cramer.

The warehouse was completed in 2015 on 7.5 acres, according to Vizzda. The sellers had paid $15 million for the building in 2017. 

Led by Khaled Kudsi, Sterling’s real estate investments are focused on industrial and self-storage properties, its website shows. Prior to starting Sterling in 2020, Kudsi was principal at Blackstone and then senior managing director at Northwood Investors. 

Sterling’s website lists no other South Florida properties. 

Over the past year, investment sales of industrial real estate have nosedived across the tri-county region due to expensive financing created by the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. While deal activity hasn’t rebounded to the boom times of 2021 and early last year, industrial sales have started to pop up in recent months. 

New York-based Blackstone has been an active buyer and seller. In July, its Link Logistics subsidiary paid $162 million for seven buildings at 710-750 South Powerline Road and 3155-3161 Southwest 10th Street within the Quiet Waters Business Park in Deerfield Beach. That came on the heels of Blackstone’s $50.9 million sale to Prologis of the Pan American North Business Park building at 10733-10763 Northwest 123rd Street in Medley. The sale was part of a $3.1 billion portfolio deal between Prologis and Blackstone. 

In July, Walton Street Capital bought three warehouses at 3455 Northwest 54th Street, 5530 Northwest 32nd Court and 5400 Northwest 32nd Court in Miami-Dade County’s Brownsville neighborhood for $51.5 million. 

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