Opus Packaging

Opus Packaging Group is a Michigan-rooted corrugated and packaging manufacturer founded in 1984, headquartered in Caledonia at 6995 Southbelt Drive SE. The company operates five manufacturing facilities and multiple warehouses across the Midwest, with two operating divisions, Action Packaging and Safeway Packaging, serving food, consumer products, and industrial customers across the region.

The Opus Packaging transaction was executed through Carbon River Capital, the real estate investment vehicle led by Max Benedict alongside the Third Coast principals. Carbon River Capital acquired the operating real estate at fair-market value and leased it back to Opus Packaging on a long-term commitment, freeing the operating company’s capital to reinvest in production capacity, equipment, and the growth of its packaging business rather than holding it in the dirt and the walls of its headquarters facility.

For Opus Packaging, the deal preserved everything the operating team cared about: continued occupancy of the Southbelt Drive facility, control over operations, and a lease structure built around how a manufacturer actually uses a building. For Carbon River Capital, the deal added a long-duration industrial asset with a strong regional operating-business tenant to the fund’s growing West Michigan portfolio.

The Opus Packaging acquisition is representative of the sale-leaseback work we do for growing Midwestern operating businesses: long-term holders on the landlord side, operationally-focused tenants on the other, and a lease structure that lets the operating company keep doing what it does best.