Blackstone and subsidiary Link Logistics are on an industrial binge in South Florida.
The joint venture broke ground on two warehouses in Medley after nabbing a $51 million construction loan from Boston-based AEW Capital Management, records and Vizzda show.
Eastdil Secured represented Blackstone in obtaining the loan.
Since May, Blackstone and Link have also dropped an additional combined $206.1 million for industrial properties in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
In Medley, the partnership is proposing Sycamore Logistics Center, two facilities spanning 310,456 square feet at 9800 Northwest 87th Avenue and 8593 Northwest 96th Street. Blackstone and Link assembled the 18-acre site in two separate purchases of $4 million in 2014 and $10.5 million in 2019, records show.
The demand for warehouse space is fueling development in Miami-Dade’s industrial sector, which commanded an average asking rent of $14.50 a square foot in the second quarter, a 22 percent hike compared to the same period of last year, according to CBRE. The vacancy rate hit 3.1 percent in the second quarter.
Blackstone, the New York-based investment giant led by CEO Stephen Schwarzman, launched Link in 2019 after paying $7.6 billion for industrial real estate investment trust Gramercy Property Trust. Led by CEO Luke Petherbridge, Link has a nationwide industrial portfolio of 3,500 properties, according to the firm’s website.
In one of the largest South Florida industrial trades last year, Link paid $291 million for the former Calder horse racing track and adjacent properties, where the firm plans to build a 2.3 million-square-foot industrial development.
Last month, Link paid a combined $162 million for a Deerfield Beach industrial campus consisting of seven buildings on nearly 46 acres.
In June, Blackstone and Link picked up a Whole Foods distribution center in Pompano Beach for $28.6 million. And in May, the joint venture bought a 6.3-acre boat and truck yard in unincorporated Northwest Miami-Dade for $15.5 million.
As Blackstone’s industrial activity has picked up, the firm has shed properties in South Florida’s hospitality sector. In the past month and a half, Blackstone sold three Marriott-branded hotels and two Hyatt-branded properties in Broward County for a combined $104.1 million.