Liberty Property Trust finalized two acquisitions in the past few days, purchasing a nearly completed 593,600 SF warehouse — Estrella Logistics Center; and in a separate deal, bought 73 acres of land at Buckeye Logistics Center West.

Both are in the highly desirable Southwest Phoenix Industrial submarket.

“The Southwest Phoenix industrial submarket is poised for explosive growth, and these acquisitions give us two things: the largest contiguous cross-dock industrial space in the market and land on which to develop even more,” said John DiVall, senior vice president & city manager, Liberty Property Trust. “We are very pleased to have two great opportunities by which to expand our presence in this part of the market.”

The industrial building is at 563 S. 63rd Ave. and was purchased from Seefried Properties and USAA. Marc Hertzberg and Anthony Lydon of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the seller and Bo Mills and Mark Detmer of Jones Lang LaSalle represented Liberty Property Trust.

The building will be rebranded as “Liberty Logistics Center I” and marketed to distribution center users who want to expand in or locate to Phoenix.

“We are currently monitoring more than 10 MSF of industrial users who seek space solutions greater than 100,000 SF,” said Anthony Lydon who, with partner Marc Hertzberg, will retain the leasing assignment on the building.

“Southwest Phoenix provides the perfect supply chain nexus for the near-shoring of Mexico and far-shoring of China/India through the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Liberty Logistics Center I will provide the modern amenities that the logistics industry mandates for today’s multi-channel fulfillment needs.”

The sustainable building, designed to meet LEED certification, is a state-of-the-art cross-dock facility that features 32-foot clear heights, a fully gated concrete truck court, 7 points of ingress and egress, R-19 insulation and skylights on 2% of the roof.

“This is a building we would have built ourselves,” DiVall said. “The high quality and sustainable features are very similar to our own products. It is meant for one or two large users. There’s nothing else in the market like it.”

The land purchase is 1.5 miles west of the new building at 71st Ave. and Buckeye Rd. Acquired from The Alter Group, the site is pre-planned to offer more than 1.4 MSF of industrial space across three proposed buildings.

It will also be rebranded, as “Liberty Logistics Center II.” Rob Martensen of Colliers International represented the seller in the transaction.

“Once we reach about 50% occupancy in Liberty Logistics Center I, we plan to begin work on the first building at Liberty Logistics Center II,” DiVall added.

Liberty currently has a presence in the Southwest Phoenix Industrial Submarket, including the 403,321 SF Liberty Tolleson Center at 8591–8601 W. Washington in Tolleson; 227,259 SF at 8313 W. Pierce in Tolleson, and 112 acres of developable land in Goodyear.

In total, the company’s Arizona portfolio now includes 2.658 MSF of industrial and office space and 204 acres of developable land in Phoenix, Southwest Phoenix, Tolleson and Goodyear.