Liberty Property's (LPT) Piedmont Triad Now 95% Occupied

Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LPT) recently announced the completion of five agreements through which the company has leased a total of 256,783 square feet of industrial space, in the Piedmont Triad.

Specifically, the company signed three renewal leases and two new deals. In fact, Cable Assembly, a long-standing tenant, renewed its long-term lease for 62,200 square feet of space at 6532 Judge Adams Road in Whitsett. Inmark, LLC also renewed its lease at 4183 Eagle Drive in High Point for 29,578 square feet of space. The company’s long-term relationship with customers has enabled it to witness healthy leasing activity in the Carolinas market.

Further, Schiller has signed an agreement for 6,005 square feet of space at 4500 Green Point Drive in Greensboro. The tenant will occupy the facility this July. Notably, Liberty Property has been witnessing high demand for space at its industrial properties. In fact, earlier this year, it rented out an aggregate of 159,000 square feet of space at Eagle Hill Business Park and Lowell’s Run Business Park.

Management noted that the company has reached more than 95% occupancy in the Triad. The company expects the strong leasing activity to continue given the quality and location of its buildings primarily in the airport sub-market.

As demand for industrial boxes shoots up in response to the booming e-commerce and the rising need for last-mile delivery options, Liberty Property is taking measures to enhance its industrial portfolio. In fact, amid healthy manufacturing environment, demand for warehouse and logistics real estate is anticipated to be healthy. This is benefiting a number of industrial real estate investment trusts (REIT), including Terreno Realty Corporation (NYSE:TRNO) , Duke Realty (NYSE:DRE) and Prologis Inc. (NYSE:PLD) .

Banking on the high demand for well-located industrial space, early this July, the company announced finalizing three leases, aggregating 128,800 square feet of space, in the Charlotte market in June.

Specifically, Builders’ Wholesale Flooring, LLC has signed a 24,000-square-foot new expansion lease at 4045 Perimeter West Drive to occupy a total of 42,391 square feet of space.

This apart, Liberty Property signed two renewal leases with Brooks Equipment Company, LLC, for 64,800 square feet, at 2700 Hutchinson McDonald Road, and Flowserve (NYSE:FLS), for 40,000 square feet at 2801 Hutchinson McDonald Road.

Encouragingly, over the past year, shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have outperformed the industry. While its shares have gained 15.7%, the industry has rallied 12.2% during the same time period. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

However, recovery in the industrial market has continued for long, and a whole lot of new buildings are slated to be completed and made available in the market in the near term. This, in turn, will lead to higher supply and lesser scope for rent and occupancy growth. This apart, any protectionist trade policies will have an adverse impact on economic growth, as well as the company’s business over the long haul.

Radical New Technology Creates $12.3 Trillion Opportunity

Imagine buying Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) stock in the early days of personal computers… or Motorola (NYSE:MSI) after it released the world’s first cell phone. These technologies changed our lives and created massive profits for investors.

Today, we’re on the brink of the next quantum leap in technology. 7 innovative companies are leading this “4th Industrial Revolution” - and early investors stand to earn the biggest profits.

See the 7 breakthrough stocks now>>