Blackstone’s LBA logistics giving former Sears warehouse $35M upgrade

Blackstone affiliate LBA Logistics will spend $35 million to upgrade a 2 million-square-foot south Dallas warehouse it has controlled since 2018.

The five-story warehouse on the Trinity riverfront was built in the early 1970s as a regional distribution for Sears Roebuck and Co. and is one of LBA Logistics’ biggest properties.

CBRE is leasing out the property on behalf of California-based LBA Logistics and is marketing the warehouse as the “Cedars Commerce Center.” Each floor of the facility has 330,000 square feet, and is equipped to serve as an independent warehouse, according to the Dallas Morning News.

LBA Logistics also holds properties in Fort Worth and Houston. Another Blackstone subsidiary, Logistics Real Estate, is active in the Austin market, with about 6 million square feet and more than 70 properties in central Texas.

In February 2021, Blackstone received $944 million in financing from Bank of America, Barlays and Goldman Sachs to acquire stakes in two of LBA Logistics’ industrial portfolios. Blackstone spent $918 for a 41 percent interest in one portfolio, with LBA Logistics retaining a 20 percent stake in that larger investment. In the other portfolio, Blackstone also acquired an 85 percent stake for $644.4 million, with LBA Logistics keeping the remaining 15 percent.

The Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex is attracting major industrial warehouse investment because of its strategic south-central location. In June, New Jersey-based Faropoint bought six properties in the area for $59 million, representing close to 550,000 square feet of warehouse space. Stream Realty, will build a 3.4-million-square-foot industrial property in suburban Dallas.

[Dallas Morning News] — Karn Dhingra