Chicago-based Brennan Investment Group LLC bought a West Jacksonville manufacturing building for $10.7 million as part of a portfolio of 26 properties nationwide.
Through UB III LLC, Brennan bought the property at 4925 Bulls Bay Highway, occupied by Southeastern Aluminum Products Inc. The deed was executed July 9 and posted Thursday on the Duval County Clerk of Court site.
Southeastern Aluminum Products, which makes bath enclosures and shower doors for the residential and commercial building industry, continues to lease the building.
"It is evidence of the continuing strong demand for investment grade industrial properties that have long-term leases in place," said Peter Anderson, vice president of development and sales at Pattillo Industrial Real Estate. He represents the Westside Industrial Park, based along Bulls Bay Highway.
The 13.3-acre 4925 Bulls Bay Highway property was sold by NL Ventures VIII Bulls Bay LLC, part of AIC Ventures of Dallas. AIC Ventures deals in office and industrial sale-leasebacks, in which businesses sell their properties to generate cash and then lease them back.
Southeastern Aluminum Products Inc. sold the property in January 2012 to NL Ventures for $9 million.
John Wright, Southeastern Aluminum chairman, said the sale to Brennan Investment Group has no effect on business.
He said the sale-leaseback with AIC Ventures was a "good deal" and the company enjoyed the relationship it had with AIC.
"We look forward to the same kind of relationship with the new buyers," he told Daily Record staff writer David Chapman.
Wright said the Jacksonville location has about 80 employees. He did not elaborate about the lease terms.
Southeastern Aluminum Products moved its headquarters and Jacksonville plant from another Jacksonville location into the Bulls Bay building in October 2006.
The company has branches in Indianapolis and Phoenix.
Its southeasternaluminum.com website says the company serves the U.S., Canada, Central and South America, the Caribbean and the Middle East from its manufacturing plants in Jacksonville, Indianapolis and Phoenix.
"Company sales have quadrupled in just over 10 years and we attribute this to our dedication to quality as well as the expansion of staff and facilities to better serve a larger market area," said the site.
Southeastern Aluminum Products bought the property March 14, 2006, for $1.23 million from Stone Mountain Industrial Park Inc., which is the developer of the Westside Industrial Park.
The Pattillo family owns Stone Mountain Industrial Park Inc. and all other companies under the Pattillo Industrial Real Estate umbrella.
City records show Stone Mountain was issued a construction permit on March 15, 2006, for Pattillo Construction Corp. to build a 163,526-square-foot building at a construction cost of $5.4 million.
According to its website, brennaninvestmentgroup.com, the company buys, develops, and operates industrial real estate primarily in six major geographic regions: Chicago, Central Florida, Northern New Jersey, Southern California, Texas and Washington, D.C.
Robert Krueger, the managing principal for the Florida region, said Thursday the Bulls Bay acquisition was part of the portfolio of 26 buildings nationwide.
"In making these portfolio acquisitions, we look for mission-critical facilities leased to solid, middle-market companies like Southeastern Aluminum," said Robert Vanecko, managing principal of Brennan Investment Group in Rosemont, Ill.
"We like these properties because they generate strong cash flow and provide attractive risk-adjusted returns," he said.
Brennan describes itself as a private real estate investment firm that co-invests with private and institutional capital "to achieve outstanding risk-adjusted returns."
"We believe that industrial real estate is a large, stable, and diversified investment class that offers a compelling opportunity for both current income and appreciation across an array of industrial property types," it said.
The site said Brennan Investment Group's management team has invested in more than 4,000 properties covering more than 60 cities throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.
Anderson at Westside Industrial Park said that while industrial buildings with long-term leases were selling at a healthy price, vacant industrial properties are selling for well below their replacement costs.
Swimming Safari school-with-a-pool OK'd in Southside
Swimming instructor Joani Maskell will dive into a project to build a structure for Swimming Safari Swim School Inc.
The City issued a permit Thursday for contractor Giles-McIvor Inc. to build the 11,016-square-foot building at 4775 Windsor Commons Court at a project cost of $1.1 million. The pool is under a separate permit.
Maskell is president of Swimming Safari Swim School Inc., which offers a program that emphasizes water survival skills to students from the age of 6 months to adults. It offers instruction at nearly a dozen area pools.
Maskell intends to open the school in early 2014. The building also includes retail space.
Maskell said the pool will be a special-use pool just for teaching swimming. She said the depth will be from 3.5 to 4.5 feet in the main teaching area and there will be a 6-foot section for adults and diving practice.
Maskell said the pool will be a salt-water pool that uses a filtering system "to make sure the water is sparkling clean" and the filtration system and pool "will far surpass" the standard requirements set by the state.
The Batts Co. is shown as the contractor for the pool, which is designed by WET Engineering Inc.
The project owner is Sparkleberry Investments LLC, whose managing member is Maskell. She and family members Clifford and Kenneth Maskell and Callie Maskell Beesley are members.
Sparkleberry Investments bought the vacant Windsor Commons land Dec. 31 for $525,000 from JTB Hodges Investments LLC and Walter D. Dickinson.
Building plans show Swimming Safari will comprise more than 6,900 square feet of space, consisting of the pool and equipment area, a changing area, office and break area and retail display and viewing.
The other almost 4,100 square feet of space is shown as four rental areas.
For information about the company, visit its website at swimmingsafari.com.
Value Place hotel approved in North Jacksonville
Value Place hotel was approved for construction at 10520 Balmoral Circle W. in North Jacksonville.
The FaverGray Co. is the contractor for the $3.5 million construction project.
It is one of two Value Place hotels slated for development.
Value Place, based in Wichita, Kan., also filed plans to build a hotel at 6900 103rd St. in West Jacksonville.
Each of the new hotels is shown as a 124-unit, four-story, 45,528-square-foot project.
The ValuePlace.com site shows Value Place hotels operate at 8341 Dames Point Crossing Blvd. in Arlington and at 3425 Saland Way at Beach Boulevard in Southside.
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