ASB acquires Lehigh Valley West Industrial Portfolio for $77.6 million

ASB Real Estate Investments (ASB) has acquired Lehigh Valley West Industrial Portfolio, Berks County, for $77.6 million in a joint venture with an affiliate of Endurance Real Estate Group (Endurance).  

ASB, based in Washington D.C., made the 929,250-square-foot industrial investment on behalf of its Allegiance Real Estate Fund, an $8.3 billion core vehicle. 

Of the portfolio’s 12 buildings, nine buildings totaling 466,420 square feet are in the Berks Corporate Center, a concentration of infill, light industrial facilities providing direct access to a multi-directional interchange at PA Route 61 and US Route 222 in Reading, Endurance said in a press release. 

 The largest building in the portfolio, 184 Tuckerton Road, with 392,030 square feet, is located across the street from the Berks Corporate Center in the Route 61 Distribution Center.  

Two others, 10 Vanguard Drive, a multi-tenanted 57,600 square-foot shallow bay facility, and 650 Lincoln Road, a single tenanted 13,200 square-foot light industrial building are situated within the Lincoln Corporate Center, approximately 12 miles southeast of the Reading buildings via Routes 61 and 422.  

“This acquisition continues one of our long-term strategies of buying well-located but difficult to replace light industrial assets,” said Jared Newman, senior vice president of Acquisitions for Endurance. “We remain bullish on Berks County, and specifically the Reading-area submarket, as we have been for more than a decade.”  

The portfolio is leased to a variety of tenants ranging from large multinational corporations to regional service-oriented companies. Located just west of the Lehigh Valley, the location provides easy access to highway infrastructure that places six of the top 10 U.S. metropolitan statistical areas and 60% of the Canadian population within a one-day truck drive, the company said.  

“This investment provides an excellent opportunity to own a well located, infill industrial portfolio with access to a strong labor base and proximity to one of the premier industrial markets in the country,” said Brodie Ruland, ASB managing director and co-head of Acquisitions. “The Lehigh Valley offers a robust labor pool and is situated within two hours of New York ports and within a one-day drive of 48% of the U.S. population.”  

Endurance, of Radnor, PA., also recently completed the sale of three Class A warehouses in the Reading area known as Berks 61, 270,000 square feet and Berks 222, 160,212 square feet, and 167,492 square feet. 

 The acquisition adds to ASB’s $ 1.5 billion in industrial asset purchases since 2018. Its nationwide industrial portfolio across most major distribution markets now totals more than 13.3 million square feet, Endurance said.  

The investment is ASB’s fifth with Endurance Real Estate Group. The National Partners Team of CBRE arranged the sale on behalf of Continental Capital Partners, a private investment firm, based in Virginia Beach.