Blackstone Inc.’s mortgage real estate investment trust is lending $189 million for outdoor industrial storage lots owned by a division of Alterra Property Group.
The loan from Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc. is financing the recent purchase of 49 properties concentrated in US markets such as Atlanta, Chicago and Tampa, Florida, Alterra said.
Outdoor storage facilities are an increasingly important link in the global supply chain as e-commerce grows and shoppers and businesses demand faster delivery of goods. But there’s a limited supply of suitable properties because of local zoning limitations and a lack of new construction, according to Leo Addimando, a co-founder and managing partner of Alterra.
Alterra IOS acquires properties that are already zoned for industrial outdoor storage uses, he said.
“Without this kind of real estate in large quantums, you don’t get to go on Amazon.com and get your package the next day because those trucks need to go somewhere overnight,” Addimando said in an interview.
The Blackstone trust, known as BXMT, “is actively deploying capital into compelling investment opportunities in today’s market, including the IOS sector, which benefits from similar secular tailwinds to logistics, one of Blackstone’s highest-conviction themes,” said Austin Peña, executive vice president of investments at BXMT.
The new loan adds to Alterra IOS’s Venture III fund, which has tallied more than $925 million in equity commitments, above its original goal. The vehicle also has secured more than $1 billion in financing from lenders including Truist Financial Corp., Bank of Montreal and Bank of America Corp.
Last year, the fund acquired 102 outdoor storage sites in 27 states and seeks to buy more.
Outdoor storage facilities in the US had a vacancy rate of 4% in the third quarter, below the overall average for industrial properties and other niche industrial sectors such cold storage, according to a report by Newmark Group Inc.
The industrial outdoor storage market is estimated at $260 billion, according to a fourth-quarter investor survey by PwC. Investors are especially interested in properties that serve trucks, including terminals and maintenance facilities, the survey showed.
--With assistance from Natalie Wong.
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