MetLife's purchase of an industrial building one mile from Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America near Savannah, Georgia, on behalf of a Samsung affiliate set a new benchmark for sales of its property type.
In September, MetLife Investment Management paid $72 million, or $131.19 per square foot, for the DSP I-16 Logistics Center adjacent to the Interstate 16-U.S. 280 interchange in Ellabell, Georgia.
The property's location near the Hyundai Metaplant, where the company plans to build more than 500,000 electric and hybrid Hyundai, Genesis and Kia vehicles, played a role in attracting MetLife's Samsung, which wanted to invest in properties with connections to the automaker's facility. Samsung and Hyundai are both large South Korean conglomerates.
While the building was under contract, Ecoplastic America, a subsidiary of South Korea-based Seco Ecoplastic, struck a deal for the remaining 117,692 square feet at the DSP I-16 Logistics Center, and the building is now 100% leased. Ecoplastic America, a company that manufactures plastic automobile parts including bumpers, consoles and trims for Hyundai and other automakers, has a 400,000-square-foot plant in Bulloch County, Georgia, near the Metaplant.
Because the sale reset per‑square‑foot pricing for prime‑location properties of more than 500,000 square feet along the I‑16 growth corridor, the deal won a CoStar Impact Award as judged by a panel of local industry professionals.
About the project: MetLife executed the acquisition on behalf of its Samsung separate account, The price paid for the DSP I-16 Logistics Center, part of the emerging corridor of automotive suppliers and port users, now serves as the record for 36'‑clear speculative product in the market, validating underwriting centered on rent growth, renewal and expansion probabilities.
What the judges said: "Setting new price-per-square-foot metrics in a market is impactful, as it draws attention and can often be a catalyst for more institutional capital to that market," Newmark Southeast Research Manager Neil Matthee said.
"The acquisition enhances the emerging EV supply chain ecosystem, anchored by Hyundai's 17 MSF Metaplant and supported by suppliers such as Ecoplastic America, which expanded to253,807 SF just prior to closing," Colliers analyst Andrew Harry said. "Initially marketed at 79% occupancy, with Ecoplastic America leasing the remaining 117,692 SF after award but before the closing, [it was] an uncommon mid‑transaction stabilization that strengthened pricing."
"The submarket is newly emerging and the transaction highlights the importance of the Hyundai Metaplant on the region's logistics industry," said Michael Toma, Fuller E. Callaway professor of economics at Georgia Southern University.
They made it happen: The JLL team of Britton Burdette, senior managing director; Dennis Mitchell, senior managing director; Jim Freeman, director of industrial capital markets; Bobby Norwood, managing director; and Maggie Holmes Dominguez, managing director, served as listing brokers.