Honolulu-based A&B Properties Inc. has signed a contract to buy the Savannah Logistics Center from Atlanta-based Oakmont Industrial Group in the 2008 first quarter when construction is slated for completion.

A&B will assume efforts to lease the warehouse project, which is located less than 10 miles from the Port of Savannah and Savannah International Airport.

A&B said the planned purchase represents a focus on investing in industrial property connected to the ocean and ground transportation industry in which A&B is engaged through subsidiaries Matson Navigation Co. and Matson Integrated Logistics.

The company said over 75 percent of its industrial real estate holdings are aligned with the transportation industry, and that the Savannah project is well-positioned near the Savannah port that has grown to be the fifth-busiest container port in the United States and the second largest by volume on the East Coast.

"We believe Savannah has tremendous potential as a key East Coast port," said Allen Doane, A&B chairman and CEO, in a statement that also cited a Georgia Port Authority forecast for the port's total container volume to double by 2015.

With the acquisition, A&B's portfolio of income-producing investment property will rise to about 7.6 million square feet of retail, office and industrial space in Hawai'i (25 properties) and the Mainland (23 properties).