Fremont industrial center is grabbed by big-time investors from NYC

FREMONT — A large industrial center in Fremont has been grabbed by major investors from New York City in a deal that shows buyers still hunger for Bay Area properties despite a tough local real estate market.

The just-acquired industrial and logistics building was bought for $79.5 million, according to documents filed on Aug. 19 with the Alameda County Recorder’s Office.

Global Atlantic Financial Group, an insurance and retirement firm that is a unit of famed New York City-based private equity firm KKR, also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, is heading up the entity that bought the Fremont property.

Frontier Elm Business Center is the name of the industrial building involved in the deal, according to a brochure from Colliers, a commercial real estate firm.

Located at 47020 Kato Road in Fremont, the building totals 209,700 square feet.

RK Logistics Group, a major industrial and warehouse firm, leased the entire building earlier this year, during the April-through-June second quarter, according to a real estate report from Colliers.

Despite the tough times in the Bay Area real estate market, investors continue to scout for chances to buy industrial and warehouse buildings.

Industrial properties are deemed to be more reliable financially than Bay Area office buildings, which now suffer from sky-high vacancies, foreclosures and sluggish rents.