Gibson Finds Warehouse Buyer

A New York-based real estate private equity firm has paid $6.38 million for the half-acre North Gulch warehouse site of Gibson Brands.

Somera Road and its investment partner, Miami-based private equity firm Tricera Capital, are working with the guitar maker on acquiring its non-core real estate assets.

The warehouse is part of a 1.62-acre portfolio of North Gulch area properties, which Gibson put up for sale last year. Gibson also had listed the 0.28-acre site of a four-story, 33,864-square-foot warehouse at 1117 Church St., adjacent land on Church Street and properties at 134 and 138 12th Ave. N.

Gibson chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz said the properties were underutilised industrial buildings for which the company didn’t have plans in the near term.

“With the substantial development in the neighborhood in the last year, we felt a sale with a reinvestment of proceeds would make more sense,” he explained. “This is a decision we have been discussing for more than a year, and we felt market timing was optimal now.”