Press Release

JLL Income Property Trust Acquires South Louisville Distribution Center

January 11, 2022
Aerial photograph of a distribution center in South Louisville


JLL Income Property Trust, an institutionally managed daily NAV REIT (NASDAQ: ZIPTAX; ZIPTMX; ZIPIAX; ZIPIMX) with $5.9 billion in portfolio assets, today announced the acquisition of South Louisville Distribution Center, a 327,000-square-foot, newly constructed Class A industrial property strategically located in the Bullitt County industrial submarket, one of Louisville’s top locations for industrial properties. The purchase price was $39.5 million.

The property is fully leased for seven years to Rivian, an electric vehicle automaker and automotive technology company that recently completed a successful initial public offering. The lease includes annual rent increases of 2.75 percent.

“South Louisville Distribution Center is an excellent fit within our geographically diversified industrial portfolio given its location near irreplaceable transportation infrastructure, state-of-the-art construction and the positive dynamics of Louisville’s industrial market,” said Allan Swaringen, JLL Income Property Trust President and CEO. “The Bullitt County submarket has also been a recent benefactor of supply constraints in the closer-in airport industrial submarket, with limited big-box vacancy, which should continue to create strong demand for industrial space there. We have high conviction in the overall warehouse property sector and its ability to create stable, long-term cashflow, which is why we continue to view it as an overweight allocation for our portfolio.”

JLL Income Property Trust’s aggregate industrial allocation is now over $1.7 billion of warehouse holdings in 54 properties across 13 key markets, representing the second largest property type allocation in the portfolio.

Completed in August 2021, the property includes Class A features such as cross docking, 36-foot clear heights and LED lighting.

According to LaSalle Research & Strategy, Louisville is an overweight market whose merit is driven by an above average return outlook, lower volatility and strong rent growth expectations. Louisville’s central location at the confluence of major Interstate highways including I-64, I-65, and I-71, reinforcing JLL Income Property Trust’s research-led industrial strategy focused on acquiring properties with primary access to critical hubs of distribution and transportation infrastructure. The property is a short drive from major distribution hubs including UPS Worldport (Air Distribution Hub), UPS Centennial Hub (Ground Distribution Hub) and Louisville International Airport. The Louisville industrial market’s vacancy rate is just 3.7 percent, below the 4 percent national average vacancy for industrial.