ComReal’s John Lonardo, CCIM has been named a CoStar Power Broker Quarterly Top Sale Recipient for brokering the $26 million sale of a food distribution warehouse in Opa-Locka, Florida.
The deal – which involved a total of 157,000 square feet of cold storage warehouse buildings sitting on 12.5 acres of land – was closed this past May. The buildings are located at 12401, 12701 and 12725 NW 38th Avenue.
Lonardo, who is the Senior Vice President of ComReal | Miami – Coral Gables, represented the seller, Stephen M. Greene.
Realterm Logistics – an Annapolis, Maryland-based institutional owner of logistics facilities serving the transportation industry internationally – acquired the refrigerated industrial warehouse space. Christopher Spear, CCIM of ComReal | Miami – Doral represented the buyer in the off-market transaction.
The sale was a true team effort by ComReal due to the rigorous requirements and details needed for the buyers’ due diligence to close the transaction.
“In the past, the cold storage specialty sub-sector was dominated by build-to-suit development for user/occupiers. As e-commerce grows and evolves with major grocers’ need to fulfill more online demand, cold storage has becoming a desired asset class for industrial investors, private equity, and real estate investment trusts,” Lonardo said.
Opa Locka Cold Storage Building
For the past 10 years, the Opa-Locka buildings have been fully leased to Harvest Sherwood Food Distributors – a national protein food supplier in the U.S. The group recently renewed its lease.
The property is strategically located between major transportation nodes, Port of Miami and Port Everglades, and serves the cruise line industry in the densely populated South Florida market. It also includes 2 acres of developable vacant land and is rail served with gated entry security.
Lonardo is a 30-year veteran of the South Florida commercial real estate industry, and his transactions in office, retail an industrial real estate represent more than 4.2 million square feet.
His work is based in the high-profile Coral Gables office and retail market, and over the last 20 years, Lonardo has completed notable sale and leasing assignments and the disposition of specialty Coral Gables historic buildings.
A South Florida resident for 40 years, Lonardo serves on the Miami-Dade Monroe District CCIM Chapter as a Board of Director and Scholarship Chair, and served on the commercial Board of Governors for the 42,000-member Miami Association of Realtors. In his spare time, he enjoys road cycling, wine collecting, jazz and classical music, yoga, and traveling abroad.