Elion Partners just picked up a warehouse in northwest Miami-Dade for $7.23 million, property records show.
The 59,135-square-foot warehouse at 2875 Northwest 77th Avenue traded for about $120 per square foot.
The seller is a family-owned distribution company called South Dade Automotive. It operated out of the building before selling its business in 2015 to U.S. AutoForce, a Wisconsin-based tire and auto parts wholesaler.
South Dade Automotive CEO Jorge Pola Jr. sold the warehouse though the entity Polas Enterprises Inc. Records show the company paid $3.6 million for the property in 2002. It was built in 1981 and sits on a 2-acre lot.
Steven Jones from Industrial Group Realty brokered the deal. He said US AutoForce signed a lease in the building about a month before closing. The two-year lease comes with three, one-year renewal options.
The area is hot with industrial activity, as investors and developers are capitalizing on its proximity to Miami International Airport. Most of the industrial leasing activity in the first quarter occurred in Miami Lakes, followed by the Airport/Doral and Medley submarkets, according to a CBRE report
This most recent deal comes on the heels of Elion’s $3.15 million acquisition of a 33,000-square-foot warehouse in Miami Gardens, Jones said.
The private equity firm bets big on industrial real estate. It has about $2 billion in assets across the United States, with a large portion (about 64 percent) consisting of industrial projects. Its largest is the Ridgeport Logistics Center in Wilmington, Illinois, which spans 30 million square feet.