An Atlanta-based real estate investment firm is adding $1B in warehouses and distribution centers to its portfolio from Blackstone’s Link Logistics.

Stonemont, in a joint venture with Los Angeles-based PCCP, bought a 38-building portfolio totaling 5.9M SF in markets including Austin, central Florida, Charlotte, Dallas and Phoenix, the company announced in a Wednesday press release. The projects add to Stonemont’s 15M SF industrial portfolio.

JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo financed the transaction, and Eastdil Secured brokered the debt execution.

“We carefully curated this portfolio by emphasizing properties that sit at the intersection of population growth, cross-border trade activity and tenant demand,” Stonemont President Bryan Blasingame said in the release. “These assets, which consist of bulk and light industrial properties, come with a stable, long-term tenant base.”

Stonemont declined a request to identify the properties it acquired.

The purchase comes as the national industrial market is showing a turnaround from its slower period. For the first time after two years of steady increases, the U.S. vacancy rate fell by 7 basis points to 7.3% in the second quarter, Colliers reported, with Indianapolis, Phoenix, Charleston, South Carolina, and Columbus, Ohio, demonstrating the biggest drops in empty space.

At the same time, companies absorbed 59M SF in the second quarter, more than double the 27M SF tallied in the same period last year and up 17% from the first quarter, according to Colliers. Absorption leaders included Houston at 7.6M SF, Dallas-Fort Worth at 4.7M SF, and Atlanta at 4.5M SF.

Investors have been focused on the Sun Belt and Midwest industrial markets, where demand has been stronger than supply, according to a Marcus & Millichap report.

Link said the artificial intelligence revolution has benefited its industrial portfolio, with 15% of new leases linked to data center-related tenants, Bloomberg reported.

Link has sold other properties in recent months, including a 17K SF warehouse used by FedEx in Boston to Stockbridge Capital Group for $45M and two flex industrial buildings totaling 142K SF in suburban Atlanta to Faropoint in May for $20.1M.

Cortland has closed its Cortland Enhanced Value Fund, securing $1.5 billion in commitments. The value-add, multifamily fund is meant to capitalize on targets in the Sunbelt and Mountain West.

Cortland says approximately one-quarter of the commitments were from foreign investors, and 80% were from institutional investors. 

Cortland’s Jason Kern added, “Cortland is now capitalizing on discounted asset prices and higher yields in an improving operating and capital markets environment. By exceeding our initial target by 50%, it’s clear the opportunity to invest with Cortland in this sector at this time resonated strongly with investors.”

Headquartered in Atlanta, Cortland manages and is invested in, directly or indirectly, over 250 apartment communities comprised of over 80,000 homes in the US with regional offices in Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Orlando, and Phoenix.