Sussex-based
Quad/Graphics Inc. has sold its Quad Data Solutions facility in West Allis to a national investor and developer of industrial real estate for $33 million, according to state records.
The buyer is West Allis Business Park LLC, an affiliate of Los Angeles-based
Industrial Realty Group LLC.
The 913,000-square-foot Quad facility is located at 555 S. 108th St. and 110000 W. Theo Trecker Way. It sits on 48.5 acres and is assessed at $11.19 million, according to Milwaukee County records.
A Quad spokeswoman confirmed the company has signed a long-term lease with the new owners and business will continue as usual.
"From time-to-time, Quad reviews real estate opportunities to generate capital to invest back into our business, including creating jobs and upgrading equipment," spokeswoman Claire Ho said in an email. "As such, we completed a sale and leaseback real estate transaction of our West Allis plant with IRG, a nationwide real estate development and investment firm."
Representatives of IRG did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The West Allis plant serves as the headquarters of Quad's special interest publications operations. According to the company's website, plant operations combine web offset, custom web, sheet-fed and digital print capabilities with "highly advanced finishing techniques." It also houses a QuadMed primary care clinic and dental offices, Ho said.
Kearney & Trecker Co. opened an ancillary factory at the property by 1955, and added onto it in 1962, according to
Wisconsin Historical Society records. Quad has owned and occupied the building since 1994.
Quad has been selling vacant facilities and executing sale-leaseback deals for others in recent years. This has helped the company reduce debt.
Dave Honan, Quad chief financial officer, said during the company's fourth quarter 2020 earnings call that last year it sold book plants, a packaging facility and other real estate. This helped Quad reduce its debt by $69 million in 2020.
Also, Quad earlier this year completed a sale-leaseback of its production facility in Chalfont, Pennsylvania, for $20 million, Honan said during the company's second-quarter earnings call.
Quad
cut 1,100 jobs and closed four plants last year as it dealt with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. It
moved out of a 388,800-square-foot facility in Menomonee Falls this spring after consolidating its distribution operations.
IRG develops, invests in and manages commercial and industrial real estate. According to its website, it has a portfolio of more than 150 properties in 28 states. The properties total more than 100 million square feet of rentable space.
"IRG acquires, preserves, redevelops and repositions corporate and governmental real estate assets for modern day use," the website states.
