Realterm pays $38M for huge South Bronx warehouse

Industrial market boom draws Maryland-based company to the Boogie-Down

Realterm CEO Robert Fordi and 900 East 138th Street. (Google Maps, Realterm via LinkedIn)
Realterm CEO Robert Fordi and 900 East 138th Street. (Google Maps, Realterm via LinkedIn)

UPDATED, May 27, 3:05 p.m.: The Bronx is no longer burning, but its industrial market is red hot.

Maryland-based Realterm Logistics has bought a South Bronx warehouse for $38 million from the recycling company Parallel Products.

The 35,681-square-foot property, at 900 East 138th Street, is close to the Bruckner Expressway and the East River.

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Parallel Products purchased the site as vacant land for $5.2 million in 2006, according to PropertyShark.

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Realterm has been on a tear. In January, the Annapolis company, led by Robert Fordi, partnered with JPMorgan to acquire a 1.75 million-square-foot logistics portfolio in 28 U.S markets, including Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.

Realterm recently announced the close of a $370 million logistics fund. The company typically invests in high flow-through — or HFT — facilities such as truck terminals, trans-shipment centers and transfer hubs.

The Bronx’s logistics market is busy. The borough has over 691,000 square feet of active construction in the first quarter, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report.

This week, a joint venture between Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Blumenfeld Development Group sold a 145,144-square-foot logistics facility at 1080 Leggett Avenue in Hunts Point to CenterPoint Properties for $116.5 million.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the square footage of the East 138th Street property.