A rebounding economy and robust population growth are driving strong fundamentals across all segments of Raleigh-Durham’s commercial real estate industry. The region added 30,105 jobs during the 12 months ending September 2015, a growth rate of 3.1 percent. Users of all product types are facing rising occupancy costs and fierce competition for quality space. The Raleigh-Durham industrial market experienced positive net absorption of 721,185 square feet through the first three quarters of 2015, marking the sector’s fifth consecutive year of expansion. Increased tenant demand, combined with a lack of new construction, has driven vacancy back to pre-recession levels. Overall vacancy for warehouse and flex space ended the third quarter at 7.5 percent, down by 130 basis points year-over-year. Warehouse vacancy fell by 160 basis points to 6 percent during the same period and is down from a cyclical high of 10.2 percent. Flex vacancy ended the third quarter at 11 percent, down by 60 basis points year-over-year and from a cyclical high of 16.5 percent. Leasing activity has been broad based, driven primarily by organic growth in the region’s existing tenant base. Among the industries fueling the largest transactions are third-party logistics, e-commerce, manufacturing and housing and construction. Finally back …
FREMONT, CALIF. — A private investor has purchased a 34,272-square-foot industrial building in Fremont for $5.2 million. The property is located at 48351 Lakeview Blvd., within the Bayside Business Park. The facility is situated near Tesla’s manufacturing plant. Rick Bland, Garrett Drew and Andrew Stoddard of Lee & Associates Oakland represented the seller, Cenco Investment LLC, in this transaction.
FREDERICKSBURG, PA. — USAA Real Estate Co., in partnership with Trammell Crow Co., has completed the development of Lebanon Valley Distribution Center in Fredericksburg. The 874,126-square-foot warehouse/distribution building features a cross-dock design with 36-foot clear heights, ESFR sprinklers, 123 dock doors, two drive-in doors and parking for 219 cars and 202 trailers. Additionally, the property is expandable to up to 1 million square feet, 155 dock doors, 870 car parking spots and 247 trailer stalls with the potential of an additional 385 remote stalls. The project is the third project in the region completed by USAA RealCo and Trammell Crow.
RICHARDSON, TEXAS — Alliance Architects Inc. has been awarded shell and interior design services for the expansion of DataBank’s facility in Richardson. The building is located within Digital Realty’s Dallas Data Center Park campus. In addition to 11,000 square feet of data hall dedicated to customer hardware, the 16,000-square-foot expansion will also feature technical areas, offices and customizable storage space.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, ILL. — Owen Wagener & Co. has arranged a 35,038-square-foot industrial lease in Arlington Heights, approximately 30 miles northwest of Chicago. DevLinks LTD will relocate its headquarters operation to the facility at 3933 N. Ventura Drive. Jonathan Kohn and Brendan Green of Colliers International represented the owner, Bristol Group Inc. Carrie Wagener & Eric Wagener of Owen Wagener & Co. represented the tenant. DevLinks specializes in factory automation, design and integration for numerous industries.
MEDLEY, FLA. — Ridge Development, the industrial development arm of Transwestern Development Co., has broken ground on Airport North Logistics Center, a 182,057-square-foot speculative industrial facility. The distribution center will be located at the intersection of N.W. 87th Avenue and N.W. 90th Street in Medley, a suburb of Miami. Ridge Development expects to complete construction on the project in September 2016. The property will feature 32-foot clear heights, a 60-foot speed bay, 46 dock-high doors, two street dock ramps, 72 trailer spaces, security fencing and additional vehicle parking/outside storage. Ben Eisenberg, Walter Byrd, Thomas Kresse and Carlos Gaviria of Transwestern will provide leasing services for the project. Itasca Construction has been selected to oversee construction of Airport North Logistics Center.
LEXINGTON, KY. — NAI Isaac Commercial Properties has brokered the $17.5 million sale of two office/warehouse developments in Lexington totaling more than 400,000 square feet. The buyer, a private investment company, purchased the properties from BRE Imagination PMA LLC, a division of The Blackstone Group. The properties were a portion of a portfolio originally purchased from GE. Bruce Isaac and Chad Voelkert of NAI Isaac Commercial Properties brokered the transaction.
SAN BERNARDINO, CALIF. — Hillwood has announced a new tenant has signed a 1.1 million-square-foot lease to fully occupy AllianceCalifornia Gateway South Building 3 in San Bernardino. The distribution building is located at 555 E. Orange Show Road. The new tenant has not been named. Gateway South Building 3 is currently the largest speculative building in Southern California, according to Hillwood. The building sits on 50 acres just north of Interstate 10. AllianceCalifornia is a 2,000-acre trade and logistics center. It is one of Hillwood’s largest developments to date, totaling more than 13 million square feet. The property has another 414,000 square feet under construction that should be delivered in the second quarter of 2016.
ELK GROVE, CALIF. — NRC Manufacturing is expanding its presence in Elk Grove by building a 230,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. This will be the electronic components prototype manufacturer’s second facility within the Sacramento submarket. The facility will eventually employ up to 2,500 manufacturing and management personnel for the Fremont-based company. Phase I is slated for completion by the end of 2017. NRC partnered with the Kamilos Cos. on this project. It will be the first major employer within the City of Elk Grove’s Southeast Policy Area, a 1,200-acre, master-planned area that includes more than 400 acres of fully entitled, development-ready corporate office and manufacturing land.
HILLSBORO, ORE. — Majestic Realty Co. has broken ground on a 303,000-square-foot spec industrial warehouse in Hillsboro. The project will be situated at the southeast quadrant of Highway 26 and Brookwood Parkway, 18 miles west of Portland. It is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2016. The new development will be the third building at the Majestic Brookwood Business Park. It will neighbor a 200,000-square-foot ViaWest data center, which opened its first phase in September 2015, as well as a 65,000-square-foot Top Golf entertainment complex scheduled to open this June.