MetLife Developing $110 Million Industrial Park Near Atlanta in Move to Diversify Real Estate Holdings
July 14, 2014 by Fran Matso Lysiak
NEW YORK – MetLife Inc. said it will develop a large-scale industrial park near Atlanta with total costs to run more than $110 million with Panattoni Development Co. in a move to diversify its real estate holdings.
The Lambert Farms Distribution Center will be built in Henry County, 15 miles south of the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and 25 miles from Atlanta. MetLife will be the majority partner, and the Newport Beach, Calif.-based Panattoni, a privately held national developer, will be the managing member.
The center will offer up to 3 million square feet of distribution space and may accommodate up to two, 1.5 million-square-foot facilities.
Chuck Davis, regional director with MetLife Real Estate Investors, told Best’s News Service that with this project, which is an equity investment, MetLife is an owner, not a lender.
Real estate is one of the components in MetLife’s investment portfolio, Davis said.
In its real estate portfolio, there are a couple product types that MetLife hasn’t traditionally been as strong in, Davis said. One is industrial and the other is retail, he said. “And we are actually trying to ramp that up,” he said, saying the company is diversifying its overall real estate portfolio with this project and a handful of others.
MetLife has been higher in apartments and offices , and much lower on the industrial and retail side, he said.
This is considered a “pretty large industrial park,” Davis said. It’s a phased project so that $110 million “will not go all out the door at one time,” he said. “It’s more of what happens when this thing is fully developed all the way out — but you got to start somewhere.”
“Nationally, we think the long-term growth factors for industrial markets in core cities are very positive, and we are excited to have an experienced partner with national reach in Panattoni Development,” said Robert Merck, senior managing director and global head of real estate for MetLife, in a statement.
The two companies have plans for an initial portfolio of eight industrial facilities in four states totaling nearly 6 million square feet on 356 acres. The companies also plan to build facilities in Seattle, Chicago, the Inland Empire market of California and another project in the Northeast Atlanta sub-market
Metropolitan Life and Affiliated Cos. is the largest life insurer in the United States based on 2013 total admitted assets of $585.7 billion, according to A.M. Best Co.
Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. currently has a Best’s Financial Strength Rating of A+ (Superior).
On the afternoon of July 10, MetLife Inc.’s (NYSE: MET) stock was trading at $55.45 a share, down 1.6% from the previous close.
(By Fran Matso Lysiak, senior associate editor, BestWeek: fran.lysiak@ambest.com)
