Plant City manufacturing site sold for nearly $22 million

The Brennan Investment Group has bought a nearly 250,000-square manufacturing facility and 18 acres in Plant City and plans an expansion that will double the building’s size for the current leaseholder, Sonoco Products.

The suburban Chicago investments firm did not disclose a sale price, but Hillsborough County records show it paid $21.75 million.

The property is at 1420 Gordon Food Service Drive near U.S Route 92 and south of the city’s downtown district.

Gordon Food Service paid $31.5 million for the property in 2010.

Brennan is planning a major expansion on the property that will grow the facility to 493,250 square feet from its current 243,650 square feet. When it’s done, Sonoco will enter into a new lease for the fully expanded property, according to a news release announcing the deal.

The company did not give a timeline for the project.

Sonoco is a global company that manufactures and sells consumer packaging, protective packaging and industrial products. It has operations in 36 countries, including facilities and offices in Orlando, Mulberry and Jacksonville.

Its net sales for the third quarter were down 9% to $938 million when compared with the same period the previous year according to its most recent earnings statement released in October.

Brennan is not new to the area. The firm says that in the past five years it has invested more than $200 million in Florida. That includes paying $3.55 million in 2020 to purchase the five-building Paradise Commerce Center in Plant City. And in 2022 it bought 110 acres in Plant City where it planned to build a 950,000 square feet industrial facility.

In all, the Rosemont, Illinois-based firm’s portfolio includes properties in 27 states totaling 52 million square feet. It says that it has bought $6.5 billion in industrial real estate since 2010.