Posted on: Thursday, June 16, 2005

Trust closes deal to buy 188 acres

Advertiser Staff

A Massachusetts-based real-estate investment trust said yesterday it has completed its previously announced purchase of 188 acres at Campbell Industrial Park for $115.5 million.

The property acquired by HRPT Properties Trust includes 41 parcels that are 95 percent leased to about 60 tenants for an average remaining lease term of 15 years.

HRPT estimates that the current annual net operating income from the property will be $8.7 million. The acquisition will boost HRPT's industrial land holdings on O'ahu to 412 acres, making it one of the state's largest owner of industrial properties, owning nearly a fifth of all industrial land on Oahu.

In 2003, the company bought 224 acres of industrial property between Honolulu Harbor and the airport from the Damon Estate for $480 million.

The Damon land acquisition was the largest ever for HRPT, a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owned primarily Mainland office buildings worth $4.7 billion at the end of last year.

The Campbell Industrial Park land was purchased from the Estate of James Campbell and its affiliates. The properties represent most of the estate's remaining holdings in the 1,300-acre Campbell Industrial Park, which was built in the 1950s. The estate said it sold off most of its land in the park during the past several years to its tenants.

The deal comes as the average industrial rent on O'ahu has risen nearly 40 percent to about 96 cents a square foot from about 69 cents a square foot in 2001.

Real estate investment trusts are companies, usually publicly traded, that manage a portfolio of real estate to earn profits for investors.