In a notable development, Liberty Property Trust LPT revealed achieving full occupancy in its Charlotte Portfolio as well as Green Point Business Park in Greensboro. This reflects solid demand for the company’s properties.
Particularly, full occupancy of the Charlotte Portfolio was achieved amid solid demand for strategically positioned, class A industrial buildings in Charlotte and done through signing of three leases with All Drive Incorporated, Builders Wholesale Flooring and Wheel Pros for a total space of 76,411 square feet.
On the other hand, the company signed four leases in Green Point Business Park in Greensboro, aggregating 50,737 square feet of space and this helped the park reach 100% occupancy. Specifically, leases were signed with Magnussen Home Furnishings, Burkle North America, Inc., Butler Brothers Industrial Suppliers and LabelPack Automation.
Located in the heart of the Piedmont Triad, this business park offers four industrial buildings aggregating 321,506 square feet of space and has a solid mix of different national and regional companies.
Going forward, Liberty Property is expected to benefit from its portfolio of superior office and industrial properties and decent balance sheet. In fact, fundamentals of the industrial market remain strong backed by growing demand for industrial properties amid limited supply, which is leading to decent rent growth, increased occupancy and development opportunities. The company is known for providing quality multi-tenant industrial space along the I-85 corridor between Raleigh, NC and Greenville, SC.
Further, the company has been aiming at divesting its non-core properties and using the dry powder to add properties across the U.S. However, the near-term earnings dilutive effects of divestiture, operational risks associated with huge construction pipeline and any rise in interest rates remain as concerns.
Liberty Property currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Investors interested in the REIT industry can consider stocks like Urban Edge Properties UE, Seritage Growth Properties SRG and DCT Industrial Trust Inc. DCT. Each of these stocks has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
For Urban Edge Properties, the expected growth rate for FFO per share is 36.6% for 2016 and 5.9% for 2017.
Seritage’s estimates for 2016 have increased 0.9% over the past 30 days to $2.34.
DCT Industrial delivered an average positive surprise of 5.18% over the trailing four quarters.
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