Hillwood Investment Properties has purchased a Memphis-area industrial building as part of a 2.6 million-square-foot portfolio purchase in five U.S. markets.
The Dallas-based company bought a 556,000-square-foot building in Airways Distribution Center, located in Southaven, Miss.
Kimberly-Clark Corp. (NYSE: KMB) recently leased the facility, where it will locate a new distribution operation and hire more than 100 workers.
Hillwood also purchased property in Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta and Orlando, Fla., as part of the larger portfolio purchase.
This latest buy is part of a Hillwood partnership with Brookfield Asset Management. The two entities together have now purchased 9.7 million square feet in eight markets, including Memphis. The joint venture has an initial equity commitment of $400 million, but the goal is to invest up to $1 billion in industrial properties over the next three years.
Memphis is part of Hillwood’s national investment strategy of acquiring existing industrial property in key markets, as detailed by MBJ in a July 2012 print edition story. The company bought more than 2.8 million square feet of Memphis-area industrial property last year.
Hillwood owner Ross Perot Jr. told MBJ that the joint venture between his company and Brookfield “is well-positioned to benefit from renewed demand for industrial space which will increase as the economy continues to show signs of improvement.”
But acquisition isn’t Hillwood’s only interest in the local market.
Hillwood has developed 4.1 million square feet of industrial space in the DeSoto County and has enough land to build another 7 million square feet.