Behind EQT Exeter’s $141M Portfolio Buy

Investor confidence is increasing in the Baltimore industrial market, where EQT Exeter has acquired a six-building industrial portfolio totaling nearly 900,000 square feet for $140.5 million. PGIM Real Estate was the seller of the properties in Middle River, Md., according to CommercialEdge data and public records.

A CBRE team led by Bo Cashman and Jonathan Beard, along with members of CBRE National Partners, led the marketing of the 198-acre portfolio and represented the seller in the negotiations.

The Baltimore Crossroads portfolio is situated within an established industrial park along the I-95 Corridor and dissected by Route 43 in the Baltimore East Industrial submarket. The portfolio, which also has excellent accessibility to the Port of Baltimore, is currently 97 percent leased to national and regional tenants.

The properties in the portfolio are 1405, 1409 and 1411 Tangier Drive and 11501, 11503 and 11505 Pocomoke Court. The buildings range in size from 42,275 square feet to 435,490 square feet.

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The submarket has availability of 3.6 percent and high barriers to entry, according to CBRE. Tenants, particularly big-box occupiers, are attracted the submarket because of its central location, nearby ports, robust regional infrastructure, labor pool and high population concentration within 100 miles. CBRE noted Baltimore saw a nearly 30 percent year over year increase in big-box leasing activity leasing activity in 2023 alone.

Despite the Port of Baltimore being closed from March 26, when a large container ship struck and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, through June 10, the Baltimore industrial market remained resilient. CBRE’s second-quarter industrial report for Baltimore stated the market performed well during the second quarter, recording its best quarter for absorption since the fourth quarter of 2022. Leasing was up 87 percent across the market quarter-over-quarter including a new lease for 129,465 square feet at 6301 New Cold Mill Road in the Baltimore East submarket inked by Windspeed Logistics. 

Recent EQT deals

Radnor, Pa.,-based EQT Exeter has been an active investor in the industrial sector. Last month, the global real estate investment manager acquired four properties totaling 365,000 square feet, part of Gayteway Business Park in Arlington, Wash., for $70.6 million from GS Venture Partners, according to CommercialEdge data. The assets were fully leased at the time of the purchase.

In May, the firm paid Prologis more than $284.6 million for a 5.1 million-square-foot industrial portfolio in metro Minneapolis-St. Paul. A month earlier, EQT made two industrial deals. The firm acquired a 641,906-square-foot Phoenix-area industrial asset from BET Investments for $60.1 million. It also purchased an 819,004-square-foot industrial facility in Fontana, Calif., for $197 million from Manulife Investment Management.

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