Finding a taker to reuse Second Harvest Food Bank's facility in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, presented a challenge.
Consisting of two older-vintage, side-by-side warehouses totaling about 40,000 square feet, the Linville Team Partners tasked with selling the property got creative in lining up Atlanta-based Spectra Gutter Systems to acquire the two buildings in 2022 and occupy 15,000 square feet in one building for its business, leaving the remaining 5,000 square feet unused and the entire second building vacant.
The brokers then secured tobacco product distributor Nasco Products to fill the remaining 25,000 square feet of space, allowing the buyer to offset some of the costs of its property purchase. Their creative solution was selected by a panel of local industry professionals as the 2023 winner of the CoStar Impact Awards' lease of the year for the Greensboro and Winston-Salem region.
About the Project: The two former warehouses of Second Harvest Food Bank of North Carolina were acquired by Atlanta-based Spectra Gutter Systems in 2022. The properties include two warehouses totaling 20,000 square feet each on 3 acres. The buyer occupies a portion of one building and arranged to lease the remaining space to a different company.
Judge's Comments: "The Nasco Products lease shows the value that brokers bring to their clients. By leasing the excess space, Linville Team Partners was able to help the property buyer offset some of the cost of the real estate for their client," said Ryan Conboy, a director with Cushman & Wakefield.
"This project was a great use of space by the purchasing company and a creative solution to lease the balance of the buildings to another company that the brokers arranged," said Sandy Dunbeck of the Guilford County Economic Development Alliance.
"The re-use of the Second Harvest Food Bank facility was impressive. I have been in the space and it was going to be tough to first find a buyer and then a tenant, in what turned out to be a perfect fit," said Mark Owens, president and CEO of Greater Winston-Salem Inc.
They Made It Happen: Katie Mealka and Nick Gonzalez of Linville Team Partners arranged the sale and subsequent lease of the two buildings on Reed Street in Winston-Salem.
