MLP Ventures buys portfolio from Liberty Property for $77M

Source, Philadlephia Business Journal, Natalie Kostelni

MLP Ventures, formerly known as O’Neill Properties Group, has expanded its King of Prussia, Pa., presence and paid $76.9 million to buy 14 properties from Liberty Property Trust.

The developer, having recently relocated to 201 King of Prussia Road in Radnor, Pa., from 2701 Renaissance Blvd. in King of Prussia, already owns several buildings near its recent acquisition. It is also an area where MLP has sought to grow further.

Last April, then called O’Neill Properties, the real estate company put under agreement GlaxoSmithKline’s so-called “West Campus.” That property at 709 Swedeland Road consists of 43 buildings totaling about 2.2 million square feet of office, lab and warehouse space. In 2014, GSK announced it planned to sell its West Campus and lease back a portion of the site that consisted of its sterile clinical manufacturing pilot plant.

The company has also ventured outside of real estate with the operation of its Recovery Centers of America, a chain of facilities that seeks to treat those suffering from drug or alcohol addiction. J. Brian O’Neill, who formed O’Neill Properties, is also spearheading Recovery Centers of America.

In the most recent transaction with Liberty (NYSE: LPT), MLP bought eight office properties totaling 357,705 square feet and six industrial flex properties totaling 283,620 square feet at Renaissance Park, according to Liberty Property Trust. The buildings were: 2700, 2900, 3000, 3100, 3200, 3400, 3500, 3600, 3602 and 3604 Horizon Drive, and 2300, 2500, 2520 and 2560 Renaissance Boulevard. The portfolio was 87 percent occupied at the time of sale with tenants including Marsh & McLennan, BB&T, Reed Elsevier and MedRisk.

Robert Fahey and Jerry Kranzel of CBRE Inc. arranged the sale between Liberty and MLP.

In a separate deal, Liberty sold 2301 Renaissance Blvd., a 189,502 square foot office, for $47 million. The building is occupied by Vertex Inc., which signed an 11-year lease on 168,000 square feet at the building for its headquarters. M&H Properties was the buyer. Doug Rodio and Brett Segal of HFF arranged the sale.