Wharton Industrial Hires Two Key New Professionals to Bolster its Northeast Acquisitions Activities

Scott Guo and Nick Aileo will manage investment firm’s growing pipeline of industrial and last-mile delivery transactions

NEW YORK (Feb. 18, 2021) — Wharton Industrial, a platform company of real estate investment firm Wharton Equity Partners, announced today that it has hired Scott X. Guo as Senior Vice President and Head of Acquisitions and Nick Aileo as Associate. Guo will lead all origination and underwriting activity for Wharton Industrial, while Aileo will support sourcing, underwriting and execution of all transactions.

Both will report directly to Peter C. Lewis, President of Wharton Industrial and will continue to grow the company’s robust portfolio of last-mile and big box distribution centers across the Northeast, Florida and the Southeast.

“As the rise of e-commerce and other shifts in consumer behavior continue to fuel rapid growth in the industrial sector, it is more important than ever to have skilled acquisition and leasing professionals like Scott and Nick here at Wharton,” said Lewis. “Their combined expertise will be critical as we expand our industrial platform and create vital last-mile distribution centers, cold storage facilities and other first-class properties in our target markets. We are extremely thankful to have both of them on board as we continue to fulfill our vision to shape the next phase of this rapidly evolving market.”

Guo previously worked at Exeter Property Group, where he spearheaded acquisitions and leasing for Exeter’s portfolio of over 24 million square feet of industrial and office assets across New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. While at Exeter, he helped to acquire and develop 3.4 million square feet of big box, last-mile, infill, and flex industrial product and stabilized Exeter’s northern Northeast value-add portfolio totaling 3.8 million square feet by raising portfolio occupancy from 78 percent to 94 percent.

Guo is a veteran of the U.S. Army, where, as a Captain, he led two infantry platoons through 21 months of combat, global advisory, and training missions. He holds an MBA with a concentration in finance and real estate from Cornell University, as well as a bachelor’s degree in international relations and history from Boston University.

“After studying Wharton’s activity in the market for quite some time, I was eager to join an entrepreneurial team that has already positioned itself at the forefront of the country’s industrial and last-mile delivery markets,” said Guo. “Having worked extensively across the Northeast, I’m honored to work alongside so many experienced and talented professionals in this sector, and look forward to lending my unique skills to continue the firm’s incredible momentum in the years to come.”

Aileo was formerly a senior analyst with Saxum Real Estate, where he underwrote acquisition and ground-up development opportunities valued at over $2 billion to date. He had a particular focus on cold storage industrial, office and multifamily/mixed-use, along with select retail, student housing, and hotel deals, including nearly $450 million of current development projects. Prior to Exeter, Aileo was a financial analyst with Avison Young. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration, with a focus on real estate and finance, from Villanova University.

Guo will be based in Philadelphia, one of Wharton’s most active target markets, while Aileo will work out of the New York office to focus on Wharton’s northern New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut pipeline.

Wharton Industrial had a successful 2020 as e-commerce skyrocketed amid the pandemic, making headlines with milestone industrial deals — most recently, its sale of the  283,000-square-foot SoPhi Logistics Center in Philadelphia, occupied by Amazon, to GLP Capital Partners in November. In July, Wharton sold its 617,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility, Florida Crossroads Logistics Center, which is also occupied by Amazon, and sold its nearly 1 million-square-foot bulk distribution development in Atlanta, occupied by Philips van Heusen, to a private REIT. On the acquisitions front, transactions included the purchase of a 32-building industrial portfolio totaling 1.1 million square feet in Pennsauken, New Jersey in August.

About Wharton Industrial

Wharton Industrial is a leading investor and developer of industrial real estate, with a robust pipeline of properties across the Eastern Seaboard, Florida and the southeast US. Steered by the company’s forward-thinking leadership team, Wharton has been on the forefront of strategy in the industrial sector since 2017, acquiring last-mile distribution facilities in proximity to major urban markets as well as big box spec development projects in the southeast. Wharton Industrial is a platform company of Wharton Equity Partners, an innovative real estate investment firm formed in 1987 with extensive experience acquiring, developing and operating a wide range of real estate asset classes. Before shifting to building out its industrial platform, Wharton Equity Partners, through its Wharton Residential platform, was an early mover in secondary-market multifamily investment, where it amassed a large portfolio of value-add apartment properties across the South and Midwest, which it ultimately sold for an IRR well more than 20%.