Liberty Property's suburban office sell-off

by Joe DiStefano
"Liberty Property Trust, the Malvern-based landlord with 77 million square feet of offices, warehouses and other business property around the U.S., continued selling suburban office complexes in New Jersey and other mostly Eastern states, and buying warehouses in the Midwest and Southwest, as profits slipped in the quarter ended June 30.
Will suburban office demand ever recover? Here's where Liberty is selling, and where it's (less frequently) buying:

"Liberty sold 54 operating properties containing 2.7 million square feet, and 58 acres of land, for $208.6 million. The properties were 82.3% leased, and consisted primarily of single-story and mid-rise suburban office and high-finish flex product in Wisconsin, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey...
"Liberty acquired 4 properties" at industrial and warehouse sites in Minnesota and Arizona "during the quarter for a purchase price of $29.3 million. The properties total 603,000 square feet of leasable space and are 58% leased." The company also invested $23.5 million in 2 Houston industrial properties and 1 Jacksonville, Fla. speculative office building, plus $6.6 million in 1 fully-leased Houston industrial property."
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