CASE STUDY
120,000 SF Industrial Sale Redefines ‘Best and Final’
Quick Highlights
The Forte Real Estate Team successfully sold a 120,000 square foot industrial building in St. Paul’s North End. The transaction was complicated by multiple offers, environmental concerns, and some functional obsolescence in the building.
With the rise of e-commerce and expanding competition, the Andersons sold the distribution business in 2020. Early in 2021 a decision was needed regarding what to do with the 120,000 square foot building and surrounding acreage in Saint Paul’s North End. Through a common Midway Chamber of Commerce connection, Julie Novak with Bank Cherokee, Nancy, Luke, and Paul were introduced to John Young.
Over the course of several months, the Andersons met with the Forte team of John Young, Phil Simonet, Joe Schultz, and Jack Buttenhoff. Each meeting included detailed presentations from the Forte Team about market trends, lease rates, capital improvement costs, cash flow, and likely outcomes for both selling and leasing the building. After reviewing all the material prepared by Forte, the Andersons decided to sell the building, and the Forte Team was the right team to sell it.
The clear winner in the best-and-final round was Michel Sales, a Minneapolis-based company that began its operations 100 years ago just a couple of miles from 45 Maryland. They had been a long-time client of Phil Simonet, one of the Forte Team members hired to market and sell the building. Both buyer and seller consented to dual agency and Forte representing both parties. At this point in the transaction, it would seem to be smooth sailing. However, one of the other potential buyers came back to the Forte Team and dramatically increased their offer. After much discussion, the Andersons decided that a “best-and-final” offer meant best-and-final, and Michel Sales was the clear winner. This decision, full of character and integrity, paid off later in the transaction when Michel Sales agreed to assume responsibility for an environmental matter and replacing a roof section that was clearly at the end of its useful life.
In a world where people fight for every dollar and negotiate aggressively to get the upper hand, the Andersons chose the high road and it paid off for them and for Michel Sales who closed on the building in December 2021.
Q4-2022 Industrial Market Report
john young, ccim
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