Elm Grove-based real estate firm
Luther Group LLC has acquired four light industrial and flex buildings in New Berlin for a total of $16 million.
According to state records, affiliates of Luther Group bought three properties, located at 5000-5050 Emmer Drive, 5325-5355 S. Moorland Road and 2801-3895 S. Moorland Road, which contains two buildings.
They were acquired from affiliates of New Berlin-based James Luterbach Construction Co.
Jason Luther, president and manager of Luther Group, said the buildings total roughly 180,200 square feet. Some of their tenants include ABB; Atos Medical Inc.; Apria Healthcare Group Inc.; Coram LLC, a CVS specialty infusion services provider; Pieper Electric Inc.; Wenthe-Davidson Engineering Co.; and Schober Schober & Mitchell.
"The acquisition of the four light industrial/flex buildings fits within our strategy to increase our holdings in that real estate sector," Luther said in an email. "We believe the light industrial and flex market is a great place to invest long-term in post-pandemic economy and we will continue to look for and evaluate acquisition and development opportunities within that space."
The industrial market has fared better during the COVID-19 pandemic than other commercial real estate sectors, especially retail and office.
Industrial vacancy in the Milwaukee market remained low, around 4.2%, in the second quarter this year, according to data from the Commercial Association of Realtors Wisconsin and REDIComps. The market also saw roughly 1.17 million square feet in positive absorption, a result of two massive Amazon deals totaling 1.19 million square feet and a few new deliveries.
By comparison, the area's office market had only 4,500 square feet in positive absorption during the quarter, while the vacancy rate stood at 14.6%.
