Caro Nut has sold its south Fresno facility in a lease-leaseback arrangement. Photo by CoStar

Fresno food processor Caro Nut is taking advantage of heightened property values in a sale-leaseback of its own facility.

Commercial estate brokerage Newmark announced in a press release that Caro Nut had sold its building to STAG Industrial, a publicly-traded REIT based in Boston, for $30.04 million. Carter Lear and Jordan Alleva from Newmark’s Roseville/Sacramento office brokered the deal.

Caro Nut processes almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts and more to create butters and other foods for major retailers such as Costco and Hormel.

Caro Nut is the only tenant for the 233,840 square-foot facility at 2624 E. Edgar Ave. in south Fresno.

“The transaction underscores the trend of industrial owners exploring sale-leaseback opportunities to capitalize dormant values of their property holdings,” said Lear, who is the director of Newmark’s capital markets. “While leasebacks are not a new concept, the recent surge of industrial asset values has allowed owners and occupiers alike to capture upside in their portfolios and apply sale proceeds in other ways to benefit their business.”

Leasebacks allow sellers such as Caro Nut to finance capital projects or improve operating margins, Lear said. In tight industrial markets, lack of space creates opportunities for owner/operators.

The property features 24 to 26-foot clear height, 10 dock doors and four grade-level doors. Located near both highways 41 and 99, it also next to Aramsco, John Deere, FedEx and 7-Eleven.