Tape manufacturer buys space outside Detroit

Grubb & Ellis Co. recently represented private investors MTC Associates in the sale of a 346,000-square-foot warehouse/distribution center in Romulus, Mich.

The value of the transaction, which closed in December, was not disclosed.

Ontario-based LePage's 2000, a manufacturer of private-label tape, packaging materials and stationery products, purchased the facility for use as its Midwest operations base.

The property, located at 12900 Huron River Drive, is said to be the largest warehouse/distribution user sale reported in metro Detroit in 2006, according to a press statement. Companies that previously occupied the site before MTC Associates include Michelin Tire, Ford Motor Co.'s glass division, and Visteon Corp.

"This sale represents a significant absorption of vacant space in the warehouse distribution market surrounding Detroit Metropolitan Airport," said Jim McClowry, a senior vice president at Grubb & Ellis, in a statement. "This is just one example of non-automotive companies stabilizing the market even as the auto industry downsizes."

Grubb & Ellis Co. provides full-service commercial real estate services worldwide.

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