SAN DIEGO — A joint venture between Sunroad Enterprises and Majestic Realty Co. has broken ground on Majestic Sunroad Center, an industrial park located in San Diego’s Otay Mesa neighborhood. Majestic Sunroad Center will comprise three buildings offering a total of 227,000 square feet of Class A industrial space with first-rate amenities and design features. The buildings will feature 30-foot clear heights, cross-dock loading, LED lighting, ESFR fire protection and secured truck courts. Situated on a 16-acre parcel at the southwest corner of Otay Mesa and Otay Mesa Center roads, the project is slated for completion in 2019.
WEST CHICAGO, ILL. — The DuPage Airport Authority (DAA) has secured three new tenants for its 800-acre DuPage Business Center in West Chicago. Suncast Corp., a custom wood structures and resin products manufacturer, signed a long-term agreement with developer Pritzker Realty Group to lease a 782,000-square-foot facility. The $4.9 million development will enable Suncast to consolidate its Batavia and Montgomery locations into a new warehouse spanning 40 acres. Norix Group Inc., a manufacturer of contract furniture designed for continuous-use environments, signed a $2.7 million agreement to build a new 200,000-square-foot headquarters on 22 acres. Soltys Design Build LLC is serving as the general contractor. Lastly, Greco and Sons Inc., an Italian foods distribution company, signed a $6.2 million agreement to build a new food processing and warehouse center. The DuPage Business Center is one of three entities owned and operated by the DAA. NAI Hiffman is marketing the property for lease. The property is on track for 70 percent occupancy in 2019.
OMAHA, NEB. — Bellomy & Co. has arranged the sale of Cornerstone Storage in Omaha for an undisclosed price. Located at 6099 Irvington Road, the self-storage property includes 433 units within 83,950 net rentable square feet. The 13-story building sits on 7.9 acres. Bill Bellomy and Michael Johnson of Bellomy & Co. represented the Omaha-based sellers. The team also procured the buyer, StorageMart. This will be StorageMart’s fourth location in the area.
Less than 100 miles along Interstate 35 separates downtown Austin from downtown San Antonio. But thanks to strong job and population growth throughout the region, that short stretch is becoming home to two industrial markets that occupy distinctively different, yet thriving, niches in the local economy. The CliffsNotes version of this story is that Austin is trending toward servicing smaller, local tenants with ties to the tech sector, while San Antonio is moving toward being a regional distribution market for larger, nationally known users. Both markets are tight: the vacancy rate for both Austin and San Antonio is between 5 and 6 percent and both are seeing very healthy tenant demand and absorption of many current and planned developments. But to understand how the markets have come to function so differently from one another, we must consider the key driving factors in each metro. Austin: Access & Availability Developing new industrial space in Austin — an industrial market with about 79 million square feet of product, according to JLL’s research — is rife with challenges. The entitlement and zoning processes are exceptionally time-consuming, and most infill land sites are priced at levels that make new construction economically implausible. But the …
CRANSTON, R.I. — Sweeney Real Estate has brokered the $1.7 million sale of a 25,548-square-foot industrial building in Cranston. Located at 25 Slater Road inside the Howard Industrial Park, the property sits on nearly two acres. Thomas O. Sweeney and Kevin Casey of Sweeney Real Estate represented the seller, Alves Properties LLC, in the transaction. The buyer was G3 Slater Road LLC.
HOUSTON — Clay Development & Construction Inc. will build Sheldon Distribution Center I, a 214,300-square-foot industrial property in Houston. The property, which is being developed on a speculative basis, will be situated on an 11.2-acre site that allows for expansion of up to 385,000 square feet. Building features will include 32-foot clear heights, 44 dock-high doors, a 135-foot truck court, 104 employee parking spots and the option of 29 trailer parking spots. The groundbreaking is scheduled for Dec. 1 and completion is slated for the second quarter of 2019. Frost Bank provided construction financing for the project. NAI Partners will lease the property.
There is no question that all signs are pointing in the right direction for the nation’s second-largest industrial market. Midway through the year, the vacancy rate has stabilized below 7 percent for the first time in over a decade. On top of that, quarterly deliveries totaled 4.5 million square feet, of which 3.9 million square feet was speculative. In the second quarter, 7.9 million square feet was absorbed. So what’s next for Chicago’s industrial occupiers? Luckily there are two seasons in Chicago, winter and construction. With that, state and federal agencies are collaborating on massive transportation infrastructure improvements, and funds continue to flow to improve and expand our region’s road and rail infrastructure. In addition, the Illinois Tollway has been proactively deploying capital for projects. As a result, industrial occupiers are benefitting from an enhanced flow of goods and more efficient distribution, while the industrial development community has responded with new speculative and build-to-suit projects in key areas to take advantage of these transportation improvements. I-57 Corridor Before 2014, there wasn’t a full four-way interchange at I-57 and I-294, which represented one of the few rare nodes in the nation where two interstates crossed paths but did not allow a …
SWEDESBORO AND LOGAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Cushman & Wakefield has negotiated a pair of industrial leases totaling 331,794 square feet in New Jersey. In the first deal, UPS renewed its 251,044-square-foot lease at 200 Birch Creek Road in Swedesboro. In the second transaction, Ryder Logistics signed an 80,750-square-foot lease at 395 Pedricktown Road in Logan Township. Both cities are located about 30 miles south of Philadelphia on the western part of the state. A brokerage team led by John Gartland of Cushman & Wakefield represented the landlords, both of which were undisclosed, in each of the lease negotiations.
GREENWOOD, IND. — Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI) has opened a new 450,000-square-foot fulfillment, delivery and returns super center in Greenwood. Pitney Bowes is a global technology company that provides commerce solutions. The facility has automated parcel sortation equipment and fulfillment solutions powered by robotics to fulfill e-commerce orders, enable deliveries and process returns for both consumers and e-commerce retailers. Building features include 80 dock doors and parking for 144 trailers. Pitney Bowes plans to grow its presence to more than 300 full-time employees in the coming year.
CHICAGO — Meridian Design Build has broken ground on a 174,536-square-foot speculative industrial facility on behalf of Venture One Real Estate and USAA Real Estate Co. in the Southwest Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. Known as Rockwell Logistics Center, the property will feature a clear height of 32 feet, 32 trailer parking stalls and two drive-in doors. Forum Studio is the project architect, while Jacob & Hefner Associates is the civil engineer. Terry Grapenthin and Tim McCahill of Lee & Associates will market the property for lease.