CPA:18 – Global Acquires $34.8 Million Building in Illinois

Corporate Property Associates 18 – Global, a publicly registered non-traded real estate investment trust sponsored by W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC), acquired a Class A office building in the Chicago suburb of Warrenville, Illinois. The property is triple-net leased on a long-term basis to Exelon Generation. The company purchased the property for $34.8 million, excluding acquisition fees, from The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.

The property is a 146,800 square-foot, five-story facility that was constructed in 2001 as a build-to-suit for Commonwealth Edison, which was acquired by Exelon Generation in 2003. The building’s internal configuration consists primarily of flexible office space with exterior offices and interior conference rooms and cubicles. In addition, existing agreements provide access to parking spaces, a conference center and a fitness center. The building is located 30 miles west of downtown Chicago, within a master-planned business park.

Exelon Generation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, is one of the nation’s largest competitive energy generators. The company is rated BBB by S&P and Baa2 by Moody’s, while parent company Exelon Corporation is rated BBB and Baa1 and has a market capitalization of $28 billion.

Gino Sabatini, W. P. Carey’s managing director and head of net lease investments, commented, “The acquisition of the Exelon Generation facility presented the opportunity to add a Class A office asset to the CPA:18 – Global portfolio. Located in an established business park with easy access to downtown Chicago, the property benefits from strong real estate fundamentals and is expected to generate attractive cash flow for our investors. In addition, its criticality to a creditworthy tenant and the long-term triple-net lease with contractual rent escalations are consistent with the investment criteria for CPA:18 – Global.”

Jones Lang LaSalle represented The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company in the transaction.

W. P. Carey Inc. is a global net lease real estate investment trust specializing in corporate sale-leaseback financing, build-to-suit financing and the acquisition of single-tenant net lease properties.