Famously anecdotal, the humble yet innovative company began with an early Sealy entrepreneur positioned outside distributing matchbooks with the real estate company’s contact information. For nearly 75 years, Sealy & Company has maintained a tradition much like the familial roots from which it originated.

This fourth-generation company’s $1.5 billion+ portfolio is comprised of more than 25 million square feet of industrial real estate spanning more than 20 markets throughout the southeast, south-central, southwest, and Midwest regions of the United States. Sealy & Company has been successful in its return on its investments, sustainability efforts, and steadily increasing transaction volume and market presence.

In fact, for the past 30 years, Sealy has generated an annual average return on equity for completed transactions of 23.9% and has a 20% average annual growth rate. Sealy completed almost $400 million in total transaction volume in the last year alone and manages a pipeline of more than $3.5 billion in investment opportunities. Included in this number is the volume of strategic dispositions executed: 23% of transactions in 2018 were dispositions, which triple the disposition square footage of the previous year, signifying the growth of the portfolios and the maturing of assets within the assets’ life cycles.

Environmentally, Sealy strives to provide cost savings to its tenants and reduce carbon footprints by utilizing sustainability features that improve financial and operating inefficiencies. Notably, Sealy has updated more than 8.5 million square feet of lighting in an effort to reduce energy costs, and many Sealy-owned buildings have energy-efficient cool roofs that offer higher solar reflectance, reduce heat transfer, and drastically decrease energy costs associated with fans and rooftop unite run times.

For more than seven decades, Sealy has utilized a disciplined investment approach in acquiring and managing commercial real estate assets primarily in the industrial sector. Today, Sealy & Company acquired, develops, and redevelops regional distribution warehouse, industrial/flex, and other commercial properties. In the last three years, Sealy has successfully closed on 100% of properties put under contract. This close rate, achieved on dozens on transactions in this time frame, is a testament to the carefully designed strategies with which Sealy operates. The investment services team spends weeks judiciously vetting, evaluating, and sourcing deals on assets which align with its portfolio strategy.

As Sealy & Company continues to expand and acquire more properties, forming new portfolios was vital. With that, Sealy has strategically instituted multiple vehicles, marking continued portfolio diversification through market, property, tenants and lease term diversification. Moreover, the firm has made considerable investments in new technologies in the areas of financial technology, real-time market and performance data, marketing integration, and security.

Scott P. Sealy, Sr. is chairman and CEO of Sealy & Company and oversees corporate governance, strategic planning, and corporate development. He joined the company in 1968 and is particularly recognized with respect to the acquisition, repositioning, and ground-up development of industrial facilities. In 2018, he was inducted into the Junior Achievement of North Louisiana Business Hall of Fame and was names a 2018 Junior Achievement Laureate for his work in the community. Scott Sealy holds a multitude of other distinctions and has received numerous industry honor.

Mark P. Sealy is president of Sealy & Company. He joined the company in 1981 and currently oversees enterprise-critical functions through the company’s chief operations officer and chief financial officer. Mark Sealy has extensive experience in real estate brokerage, acquisitions, ownership structuring, syndication, financing, land and building development, property management, asset management, and dispositions which have involved the capitalization of more than $1 billion into real estate syndications.

Article originally published in Globe St. July/August issue of Real Estate Forum can be read here.