Summerville property sells for $5.68M in exclusive listing

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Hensley Business Park, a 42,296-square-foot industrial property in Summerville, has sold for $5.68 million. 

The 3.77-acre property includes four buildings, all which were a part of the sale by a private investor, a spokesperson for Marcus & Millichap said. 

The exclusive listing was marketed by Ani Paulson and Pearce Vogler, investment specialists in Marcus & Millichap’s Charleston office, who concentrate on office, industrial and retail properties.  

“After researching our market, we discovered this property and felt it was a business development that had a lot of potential, so we worked hard to communicate with its seller and procure its exclusive listing,” Paulson said. 

With industrial space in high demand, Paulson and Vogler had no shortages of buyers in mind, contacting a past client and pitching the property to him immediately. Paulson further represented the buyer, another private investor. 

The sale was swift given the region’s low vacancy rates in industrial space, Paulson said.  

Vacancy rates sit at 3.73% with a 5.7 million net absorption, according to Colliers’ Q4 2021 Charleston Industrial Report (.pdf). Currently, 4.8 million square feet is under construction in the region, with new construction absorbed quickly and proposed buildings being worked on expeditiously. 

“Industrial space became very attractive in Charleston due to the city’s port activity and a mass migration of several manufacturing plants and large companies to the area — companies such as Boeing, Volvo, Mercedes, etc.,” Paulson said. “This created a multiplier effect and attracted even more businesses to move down here to support the needs of the larger companies and the ever-growing population.” 

Most of Hensley Business Park’s tenants have occupied space since the early 2000s, and remaining lease terms span one to three years. Paulson believes current tenants intend to stick around for a while since all have invested in their own tenant improvements. 

For the investment side, tenants who invest in their own improvements are considered recession-, pandemic- and e-commerce-proof, resulting in the park being at a much lower risk for investors and lenders, Paulson said.  

“In recent years, industrial properties have become very desirable to many investors and lenders, so it’s no surprise we procured an excellent buyer for Hensley Business Park so quickly,” Paulson said.