New Fund Snaps Up ‘Rare’ Fort Worth Storage Yard As It Seeks To Build ISF Empire
A joint venture set on purchasing $150M in logistics-centered industrial assets over the next year to 18 months has made a "rare" Fort Worth outdoor storage yard one of its first major purchases.
Chicago-based Timber Hill Group, which earlier this month announced the launch of its TH Logistics Fund I in partnership with Champion Realty Advisors, also of Chicago, picked up a 39.25-acre site at 5301 Wilbarger St. from a private seller for an undisclosed price.
The deal marks the new fund’s first Texas acquisition and its fourth overall, according to a spokeswoman for the company. Earlier this month, it purchased three Jacksonville, Florida, logistics properties for a combined $9.5M, including land to develop a build-to-suit line haul facility, a 14-acre managed truck parking yard and another outdoor storage yard, that one 23 acres.
In launching the new fund, the two firms said that over the next year and a half they would acquire $150M in industrial services facilities assets — mission-critical properties used to store, maintain or dispatch trucks, heavy equipment or bulk materials. Interest in ISFs, also known as outdoor industrial storage, has spiked in recent years, and FreightWaves, a provider of news, analytics and forecasting to the logistics industry, has speculated ISFs could become “the next industrial real estate gold rush.”
“We felt the timing was right to capitalize on the growing need by retailers and other users who wish to provide one- and two-day delivery that today’s customers demand,” Champion CEO J.D. Salazar said in a statement following the fund’s launch.
Timber Hill managing partner Cary Goldman said the Fort Worth purchase fit into the fund’s strategy given its location at the intersection of Interstate 820 and Route 287 in an area home to a number of trucking companies, logistics companies and outdoor storage users like FedEx, Old Dominion, XPO Logistics, Central Freight and Southeastern Freight. Goldman said such sites, ones offering zoning for outdoor storage and a nearby network of interstate and state highways and tollways, are hard to come by. The site is 100% leased.
“There is high demand for truck parking and drop yards, yet there is a shrinking supply of facilities zoned for outdoor storage and truck parking,” Goldman said. “Dallas-Fort Worth offers distributors access to 37% of the U.S. population within 24 hours and 93% within 48 hours, making it a world-class logistics hub. With this property’s infill location and potential for growth, it is a key investment for our firm.”
Steve Hancock of Hancock & Associates represented Timber Hill in the deal.
Timber Hill, a private equity firm, was launched in 2018 to capitalize on the rise of e-commerce and the increasing demand for last-mile distribution — demand that has only strengthened through 18 months of the coronavirus pandemic. Champion invests in and manages transportation-related properties in major U.S. consumption zones and transportation centers.
Timber Hill already owns a managed truck facility at 144-145 Hartman Court in Fort Worth and a truck terminal development site at 112 Harmon Road in Haslet.
