Monin warehouse sells for $14 million
Monin Americas, a Clearwater-based flavoring manufacturer, has sold its distribution center in the Starkey Lakes Industrial Center in the Largo area to GID, a real estate investment firm in Boston.
GID paid $14 million for the warehouse, according to Pinellas County records.
The Dec. 3 sale gives GID a bigger footprint in Pinellas County. GID entered the market a year ago, with the $29.4 million purchase of Bryan Dairy East Business Park, a five-building, 281,214-square-foot light industrial park in Largo.
Industrial properties, part of the overall logistics operating environment, entered 2020 in a position of strength with low vacancy rates, according to the 2021 Emerging Trends in Real Estate report from Urban Land Institute and PwC. The Covid-19 pandemic increased demand for industrial properties, especially large-box bulk distribution facilities, with a surge in online ordering, the report said.
The Monin distribution center, a two-story, 101,871-square-foot building at 8585 126th Ave. N., was built in 2017, Pinellas property records show.
GID will lease the Monin warehouse back to the company, according to Commercial Property Executive, an online real estate news publication. A call to Monin for comment on the sale was pending return.
Monin is a French company that provides flavoring products for creating specialty beverages and culinary solutions. Monin Americas has about 200 employees at its Clearwater headquarters who handle product development and oversee sales for North America, South America and the Caribbean, according to the company’s website.
Last month, Monin opened its second North American manufacturing facility in Sparks, Nevada. The new plant will eventually double capacity for Monin Americas, adding to the output that the Clearwater headquarters plant has been producing since 1995, the company said in a news release.
Nevada officials authorized $1.2 million in tax abatements for the project in 2018, according to the Northern Nevada Business Weekly.
