The 71,100-square-foot facility of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was recently acquired by fully integrated real estate investment trust, Easterly Government Properties.
"Easterly's eighth acquisition since our initial public offering one year ago, and our first addition in 2016, the ICE - Albuquerque facility comes on the heels of Easterly's FBI - Richmond acquisition in late 2015, and is another example of the high-quality opportunities we are actively sourcing and underwriting as we continue to grow our mission-critical portfolio," said Darrell Crate, Chairman of Easterly Government Properties, Inc. "The Company is off to a great start in 2016 and we look forward to providing consistent growth and an attractive total return to our shareholders."
According to the press release of Easterly Government Properties in Business Wire, the Albuquerque building of the ICE is a built-to-suit facility completed in 2011 that is being leased to the General Services Administration on behalf of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement until January of 2027. The property was built with crash-barrier-grade perimeter fencing, a guardhouse, holding cells, a fenced sally port, and a forensics lab. The facility is the current home of both the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) directorates, as well as is open around the clock.
"We are gratified to add another important, mission-critical ICE facility to our portfolio," said William C. Trimble III, Chief Executive Officer of Easterly Government Properties, Inc. "The ICE - Albuquerque mission is an important one, and this building is responsible for supporting a large enforcement effort in the Southwest. Additionally, we are pleased that this facility is located proximate to our two-building U.S. Forest Service National Operations Center."
ICE is the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, and is tasked with enforcing the United States' border control, customs, trade, and immigration laws. At present, the ICE has more than 20,000 employees in the United States.
