An affiliate of Covington Group Inc., a Dallas commercial real estate company, has purchased a 583,000-square-foot bulk distribution warehouse at 8355 Highfield Drive in Lewis Center, Ohio. The building, on a 31-acre site, is occupied by Volvo Group North America.
The purchase represents Covington’s second large-scale acquisition in the Columbus market over the last two years and brings its market portfolio size to over 1.1 million square feet.
Volvo Group North America utilizes the building to service its slow-moving parts division for trucks and heavy equipment. From this location, as well as a location in Byhalia, Mississippi, Volvo warehouses and supplies all heavy truck and equipment parts to dealers nationwide.
The building acquisition closed in an off-market transaction in 2019, as a result of key relationships in place, and represented an opportunity to own an asset in a market in which Covington has a history, at a below replacement cost basis.
It is also the first Covington acquisition featuring a new joint-venture equity partner relationship, which was established in 2018 to facilitate additional industrial acquisitions on a go-forward basis. The partnership will focus on acquiring high-quality assets, in major markets across the U.S.
Covington focuses on investment in value-add light industrial, warehouse and bulk-distribution assets, while specializing in the acquisition of corporate dispositions, REOs and other types of vacant or distressed industrial properties with a focus on recycling and re-tenanting the asset. Covington owns and manages approximately 5.5 million square feet in various markets around the country.
