Ambient Capital Buys 49 Acres of New Jersey Industrial Storage

In what may be the largest industrial outdoor storage deal ever in New Jersey, Chicago-based Ambient Capital Partners purchased six properties in Harrison and Kearny for $156.3 million.

The seller of the 48.7-acre portfolio, located near Port Newark Elizabeth, has not been disclosed.

Scott Perkins, one of the brokers for the transaction, said that the industrial outdoor storage sector has become more established over the past year and that he has recently seen an influx of institutional investors in the space.

The Harrison-Kearny portfolio sale is indicative of major investors’ increasing interest in the asset class.

“I do not know of any larger IOS deal in New Jersey,” Perkins said.

The properties are at 310 Manor Avenue, 505 Manor Avenue, 401 Supor Boulevard, and 500 Supor Boulevard in Harrison, and 129 Sanford Avenue and 433 Bergen Avenue in Kearny. All have access to Route 280 and the New Jersey Turnpike.

Industrial outdoor storage is a relatively new term in real estate, which makes it challenging to find comparable deals — something institutional investors typically need to move ahead with major transactions.

Perkins noted that RealTerm, an institutional investor, recapitalized its national industrial outdoor storage portfolio last year, which helped establish industrial outdoor storage as a recognized segment within industrial real estate.

Ambient Capital Buys 49 Acres of New Jersey Industrial Storage — Scott Perkins and Chris Todd of NAI James E. Hanson

Chris Todd, managing director of NAI James E Hanson, said that the landscape has changed in just a few years, with far more buyers interested in industrial outdoor storage properties.

He added that larger investors have fully embraced those properties, and even medium-sized investment groups are starting to include them in their portfolios as a way to strengthen and diversify their holdings.

“There are far fewer buyers today that won’t look at IOS than buyers that would,” Todd said.