South Florida-based Apocalypse Manufacturing and South Florida Custom Jeeps (SoFlo Customs), known for their one-of-a-kind custom-made jeeps led by founder Joseph Ghattas, has closed on a $10.7 million acquisition of a new manufacturing facility to build and fabricate custom trucks. The 41,520-square-foot state-of-the-art facility was developed in late 2022 and is located at 2151 Hammondville Road in Pompano Beach, Florida. As a result of the off-market transaction, the new warehouse property will be used by the buyer to build and fabricate every Soflo Custom and Apocalypse 6x6 truck which will be sold off-site.
The purchase represents the expansion of the companies’ manufacturing facility from a 18,000-square-foot location in Fort Lauderdale to more than double the space at the new site in Pompano Beach. In addition to the physical expansion, the auto company plans to add approximately 35 skilled workers.
“The Hammondville Road location is perfect, as it is a brand-new facility with 16 grade-level doors and situated within a half-mile from Florida’s Turnpike and less than one mile from Interstate 95 offering convenient tri-county access,” said Viscount. “A spec building developed as an investment and marketed to rent the property’s design with a fairly narrow truck court limited the pool of potential prospects looking for industrial space but was ideal for my client, especially in a market where industrial space is scarce.”
South Florida Custom Jeeps was represented by Avison Young Principal Tom Viscount in the transaction. CBRE’s Tom O’Loughlin and Larry Genet represented the seller 1501 N Powerline LLC in the transaction.
“To move forward with the transaction, we had to work with the City of Pompano Beach to get the use of the facility approved,” explained Viscount. “We met with the city commissioners, zoning committee, and the mayor, all of whom were great to work with and unanimously agreed to the requested light manufacturing use of the building.”
SoFlo Customs has upgraded, customized and built from scratch over 3,000 Jeeps which they are famous for building with lift kits, big wheels, eye-grabbing rims and custom tailor-made leather interiors. The vehicles are sold throughout the country and internationally, with many designs exceeding hundreds of thousands of dollars. The high demand for the Apocalypse truck, which have waiting lists that consist of celebrities, athletes, and other high-profile buyers, led to the company’s search for a newer, larger facility that could accommodate the workflow. The trucks have been featured on Jay Leno’s Garage and in MotorTrend. SoFlo Customs has four stores and approximately 40 employees.
Images via South Florida Custom Jeeps