Blackstone expands industrial reach with $151M Chicago buy

Blackstone is furthering its industrial investments with its latest Chicago-area buy.

Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust picked up a 1.1 million-square-foot industrial portfolio from CenterPoint Properties for $151 million, according to Crain’s. The seven properties are fully leased to tenants including FedEx and Lenze, and are located in Bensenville, Itasca, Elmhurst, McCook, Northlake and Glendale Heights.

The warehouses were part of an 11-building portfolio the Oakbrook-based industrial developer had put up for sale. The remaining four properties will be sold individually. CenterPoint Chief Investment Officer Jim Clewlow told the publication that the recent sale is part of a continued effort to diversify its holdings.

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The deal is just the latest of many industrial investments made by the giant in recent years. It acquired a 5.9 million-square-foot portfolio in the suburbs of northern Chicago and parts of Wisconsin from Centerpoint last year for $400 million. Most notably, Blackstone paid $18.7 billion for a massive portfolio from Singapore-based GLP in 2019. Its global industrial portfolio spans 880 million square feet, accounting for 38 percent of its holdings.

In recent years, industrial real estate has taken off as a result of changing consumer preferences. But the pandemic injected even more activity into the market, as people increasingly ordered more goods online.

Chicago’s industrial market has been no exception. In the fourth quarter of 2020, net absorption doubled from the previous period, totaling 9.1 million square feet, according to a report from JLL. Vacancy fell below 6 percent.

[Crain’s] — Danielle Balbi