A 434,000-square-foot industrial building in Streetsboro has changed hands.
Geis Companies, which broke ground on the structure in 2020 and completed it in 2022, recently sold it to EQT Exeter, a global real estate investment manager, for $40.25 million.
Exeter, based in Pennsylvania, is the nation's third largest private equity firm.
It continues to lease the building to FNS, Inc., a California-based company that has been leasing the building. FNS specializes in ocean freight, trucking, air freight, warehousing, customs clearance and logistics consulting, according to a release from JLL Capital Markets, which announced the sale last month.
Spec buildings in Portage
The building was presented to officials as a "spec" building that would be finished to suit the eventual tenant. Geis also constructed 1 million square foot spec building in Shalersville. Geis officials said previously that the two buildings could work cooperatively.
The Shalersville structure is part of a 475-acre industrial park, where Viega LLC announced plans to open last year and plans to complete its building by early 2025.
A tenant for the Shalersville building has not been announced.
Why is the Streetsboro building so valuable?
A news release from JLL touts the convenient location of the State Route 43 building, its access to the Ohio Turnpike and Interstate 480, and connectivity to surrounding markets, noting it is within 300 miles of major U.S. cities such as Chicago, Columbus, Detroit and Indianapolis.
The structure, the release noted, is in the "Southeast Cleveland industrial submarket," which has seen declining vacancy rates and consistent rent growth since 2021.
The building is described as "a modern industrial facility with Class A specifications" that include full truck circulation, a 32-foot clear height, 180-foot truck courts, 56 dock doors, eight drive-in doors and ample parking. The building's "flexible cross-dock configuration" would allow the structure to be divided into spaces as small as 100,000 square feet, catering to tenant needs.
“Gateway Commerce Center offered an opportunity to acquire stable, in-place cash flow secured by a high-profile tenant committed to the property and location,” stated John Huguenard, who is senior managing director of JLL and the firm's industrial co-lead. “The strategic Southeast Cleveland location within the greater Ohio logistics hub positions the property well for long-term success. As a top ten market in total inventory, Cleveland boasts the lowest availability rate in the entire country through 2023, further underlining the attractiveness of this investment.”