Cushman & Wakefield Completes $43M Sale-Leaseback of Distribution Center for Smithfield Foods

Suite 203, February 1, 2016 (Newswire.com) - Cushman & Wakefield, a global leader in commercial real estate services, closed the $43 million sale-leaseback of a 419,052 square foot state-of-the-art, newly constructed cold storage distribution center in Greenfield, Ind., on behalf of its client, Smithfield Foods, Inc. Centurion Investments, LLC, a private real estate investment firm based out of Arlington, Va., acquired the property and is leasing it back to a subsidiary of Smithfield.

“This sale-leaseback will allow us to redeploy capital and fund strategic initiatives to further enrich our core business offerings,” said Tim Dykstra, Vice President and Corporate Treasurer at Smithfield. “The Cushman & Wakefield team understood our mission and applied their real estate experience and expertise, which led to a great result; they were invaluable partners for us, from beginning to end,” he added.

Situated on 47.6 acres, the distribution center, located in Axcess 70 Business Park, is within close proximity to Indianapolis Regional Airport, Interstate 70 and Interstate 465 in the East submarket of Indianapolis. Since acquiring the site in 2014, Smithfield constructed the new facility comprised of 203,081 square feet of cooler area, 81,086 square feet of freezer, 40,498 square feet of swing rooms, two floors of office space, up to 48’ ceiling heights and the opportunity to expand by an additional 200,000 square feet, among other features. The project delivers positive local economic impact, expecting to create up to 260 jobs by the end of 2016.

“The current low-interest-rate environment, coupled with strong investor demand for state-of-the-art facilities occupied by credit tenants, made this an excellent opportunity for Smithfield,” said Cushman & Wakefield Vice Chairman Scott Goldman. “We partnered closely with Smithfield and marketed this property extensively before selecting Centurion,” he added.

Cushman & Wakefield acted as the exclusive investment advisor for Smithfield on the transaction, led by Goldman, Executive Vice President Michael Christian and Senior Managing Director Jeff Castell, SIOR, CCIM.

About Cushman & Wakefield

Cushman & Wakefield is a leading global real estate services firm that helps clients transform the way people work, shop, and live. The firm’s 43,000 employees in more than 60 countries provide deep local and global insights that create significant value for occupiers and investors around the world. Cushman & Wakefield is among the largest commercial real estate services firms with revenue of $5 billion across core services of agency leasing, asset services, capital markets, facility services (C&W Services), global occupier services, investment & asset management (DTZ Investors), project & development services, tenant representation, and valuation & advisory. To learn more, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com or follow @CushWake on Twitter.

About Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world's largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield®, Eckrich®, Farmland®, Armour®, Cook's®, John Morrell®, Gwaltney®, Nathan's Famous®, Kretschmar®, Margherita®, Curly's®, Carando® and Healthy Ones®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.