The commercial real estate market may be faring better than its residential counterpart but not all commercial real estate companies have the means to purchase – and those which do have great potential to dominate the industrial landscape. Much like the Canadian real estate investment trust that has recently acquired a huge chunk of Twin Cities industrial properties portfolio. The said real estate investment trust is now being seen as the next dominant industrial landlord.

Artis Real Estate Investment Trust, based in Winnipeg, has just bought four suburban Twin Cities warehouses with the price tag $23.8 million. The four warehouses are located in Brooklyn Park, Eden Prairie, New Hope, and Rogers. The deal, which was closed last Friday, was documented in a Hennepin County Government Center filing.

Friday seemed to be a shopping spree for Artis REIT as it also closed a purchase of two buildings in Savage and Fridley. Senior VP-asset management for trust Doug McGregor said that he does not know the exact price paid by Artis for the two properties.

The six properties recently bought by Artis REIT is part of AMB Property Corp.’s collection of 25 industrial buildings. San Francisco-based and considered to be a large real estate investment trust, AMB Property Corp. has put the collection in the market early this year. Marketing it was CB Richard Ellis, which declared the collection as the largest single industrial portfolio in Twin Cities.

There have been huge amount of interest in the portfolio and the pieces of it. Minnetonka-based Welsh Cos. senior vice president Tim Prinsen therefore considers the sale a “big deal”. CB Richard Ellis will continue to manage and lease the buildings bought by Artis REIT.

But Artis REIT is not done with the buying spree – it is yet to acquire all of the 25 buildings in AMB’s package. This will total their purchase to 2.3 million square feet, making Artis REIT a large industrial landlord in Twin Cities.

“We’re clearly pleased with the acquisition of the six, and we’re looking forward to closing on the balance of this transaction at the end of the first quarter of 2011,” says McGregor.

A local broker reveals that the entire sale price had a tag of $115 million – approximately $50 per square foot.