Gibson raising funds through property sell-off

Gibson Brands has put its 1.62-acre real estate portfolio, near downtown Nashville up for sale.

According to The Tennessean, commercial real estate firm CBRE is handling the listing, which includes 1.12 acres fronting Church Street and 12th Avenue North which ncludes a four-story, 33,864-square-foot warehouse on 0.28 acres at 1117 Church Street, as well as adjacent land on Church Street and also at 134 and 138 12th Avenue North.

A separate listing seeks $6 million for half an acre at 1102 Grundy Street that has a 24,080-square-foot warehouse building.

It comes three weeks after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the company’s credit rating. Poor consumer reception of its 2015 model guitars and high turnover of Gibson Brands’ senior financial management were among reasons cited.

But in a statement, Gibson Brands’  Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz said both properties were under utilised industrial buildings for which the company didn’t have plans in the near term.

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