Grocery Warehouse Site to be Converted

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

Former Winn-Dixie distribution center sold
By: Doug Smith, Editor

Investors have purchased Winn-Dixie Stores Inc.’s former 1.1-million-square-foot distribution center in southwest Charlotte and renamed it Logistics Pointe.

Westmount Realty Capital, a Dallas real estate investment and development firm, and Los Angeles investor Nick Tasooji paid $24.5 million for the facility and its 66.3-acre site on Nevada Boulevard, according to transaction records.

The seller was an affiliate of Wachovia Corp., which received the property after Winn-Dixie sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2005.

As part of its filing, the Jacksonville, Fla.-based grocery chain closed the distribution center and about 40 Charlotte-area supermarkets.

The center’s purchase is occurring just as Charlotte industrial brokers say they’re seeing rental rates stabilize and demand for warehouse space increase.

Clifford Booth, president of privately held Westmount Realty Capital, called the acquisition “a very strong opportunity in one of America’s most vibrant metropolitan areas.”

The southwest Charlotte industrial area is the region’s largest with 11.6 million square feet of warehouses and 5.45 million square feet of office/warehouses near Interstates 77, 85 and 485.

The Winn-Dixie distribution purchasers formed W.T. Charlotte LLC to own the facility, which they will convert to a multi-tenant complex for 20,000-square-foot to 340,000-square-foot users.

They plan to demolish a 29,207-square-foot office building to make way for more warehouses in Logistics Pointe, which also includes expansion acreage.

The Winn-Dixie complex, which dates to 1973, includes a 209,316-square-foot freezer building and 191,239 square feet of cooler space.

Colliers Pinkard’s industrial services team of Lane Holbert, John Cashion and Keith Bell represented the seller. Colliers will manage the distribution center and handle leasing for much of the property.

David Norrie and Art Rasmussen of CB Richard Ellis’ Los Angeles office and Ben Orme of the firm’s Charlotte office represented the purchasers. CB Richard Ellis will handle leasing of the facility’s cooler space.