Blackstone Inc. struck a deal to sell warehouses and industrial properties to Prologis Inc. for $3.1 billion.
Prologis’ deal will expand its reach in key markets including Atlanta and parts of California, the companies said Monday in a statement. The properties represent nearly 14 million square feet (1.3 million square meters).
Property owners have been snapping up warehouses in recent years, lured in part by the rise in e-commerce. But the broader commercial real estate sector has come under pressure over the past year as borrowing costs rose, pushing prices down on certain assets.
Warehouses have held up better amid the commercial property downturn. While prices for offices are down 26% and apartments have fallen 19% in the past 12 months through May, industrial property prices dropped just 9% over a similar timeframe, according to Green Street.
“These high-quality properties are complementary to our portfolio and fit perfectly into our long-term strategic plan for growth,” Dan Letter, Prologis’ president, said in the statement.
Warehouse owners are benefiting from a growth in average asking rents, with rates up nearly 21% in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. Vacancy rates are still relatively low at just 3.8%.
The sale will allow Blackstone’s opportunistic funds to reap a profit. Those funds seek out what the firm calls “undermanaged” properties with the goal of generating higher returns. Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust was not among funds involved in the sale.
Blackstone’s Nadeem Meghji, who leads the real estate business in the Americas, said logistics properties remain a “high conviction theme” for the company.
--With assistance from Patrick Clark.
(Updates with property prices in fourth paragraph, JLL data in sixth paragraph.)
