Liberty Property Trust sells King of Prussia corporate park portfolio to Philly-area investment group

Source, philly.com, Jacob Adelman

Liberty Property Trust has sold 14 buildings in King of Prussia’s Renaissance Park corporate center for $76.9 million as it continues to shed suburban office space to focus more on big warehouses and distribution centers for tenants such as Amazon.com Inc.

The portfolio of office and light-industrial buildings centered at 3000 Horizon Dr., Upper Merion, encompassing 641,000 square feet, sold in a transaction during the first weeks of 2018, Liberty, of Malvern, said in a release Tuesday.

The properties were bought by a partnership controlled by Philadelphia-area real-estate investors Larry Doyle, Mike Balitsaris and Frank O’Neill. Developer J. Brian O’Neill, Frank’s brother, holds a minor interest in the ownership group, Doyle said.

The buildings’ current tenants include Athena Neurosciences Inc. and Reed Elsevier Group.

Liberty also said in its release that it had earlier sold 2301 Renaissance Blvd., a 189,502-square-foot office building in Upper Merion near the Horizon Drive properties, in a separate transaction for $47 million. The property serves as headquarters to financial software company Vertex Inc.

Records posted on the Montgomery County assessor’s website identify the buyer as a unit of Bala Cynwyd-based Corinthian Property Group LLC. Liberty spokeswoman Jeanne Leonard did not immediately respond to phone and email messages seeking additional details.

The 2301 Renaissance Blvd. transaction was one of four property sales that earned Liberty $326.6 million during the three months that ended Dec. 31, it said.

Also sold were 700 and 800 Uline Way, two industrial properties totaling 1,683,876 square feet on 44 acres in Allentown, for $249.1 million; and 10720 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. in Houston, a 206,808-square-foot office building on 13 acres, for $30.5 million.

During those three months, Liberty said, it acquired industrial properties in Edison, N.J.; Gardena and Rialto, Calif.; and Norcross, Ga., for a total of $195.2 million.

Robert Fahey and Jerry Kranzel of commercial real estate firm CBRE Group represented Liberty in the 14-building Renaissance Park deal. The property trust was represented by Brett Segal and Doug Rodio of real estate services firm HFF in the 2301 Renaissance Blvd. transaction.