Holland & Knight Assists Liberty Property Trust in Acquisition of 124 Acres in Miami-Dade County for Industrial Park

Liberty's purchase is one of the largest land deals in South Florida in several years.

MIAMI – December 22, 2011 – Holland & Knight recently represented Liberty Property Trust, a Pennsylvania-based publicly-traded REIT, in its approximately $20 million acquisition of a 124-acre site in the town of Medley in Miami-Dade County from Tarmac America LLC. The deal concluded on Dec. 16.

Liberty Property Trust, which owns and manages industrial parks throughout the U.S., plans to develop up to a 1.8 million square feet industrial park. Construction on the site is expected to begin in late 2012; and it is anticipated that the project will create 4,000 new construction jobs with 2,000 full-time jobs upon completion.

Liberty's purchase is one of the largest industrial land deals in South Florida in several years. Many industry experts believe that the deal indicates a resurgence of the industrial sector, partly driven by the expansion of the Port of Miami and Panama Canal that will soon carry super-sized Panamax ships into the region.

Stephen Moss, a partner in the firm's Fort Lauderdale office, led the Holland & Knight team working on the transaction, which included partners Nick Milano, Juan Mayol, Alan Krischer, and associate Geneve Dubois. The transaction required attorneys with expertise in the areas of transactions, contracts, land-use/planning, environmental, and title insurance.