TUCSON, ARIZ. — Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR has arranged the sale of Rita Ranch Commercial Center, Lots 57, 58 and 59, totaling 15 acres of industrial land in Tucson. Ron Zimmerman, Jesse Blum and Paul Hooker of Cushman & Wakefield | PICOR represented the seller, while Sam Rutledge of Commercial Properties represented the buyer in the transaction.
AURORA, ILL. — Green Bay Packaging Inc. has signed a 74,000-square-foot industrial lease at 2200 Sullivan Road in Aurora. Noel Liston and Nick Krejci of Core Industrial Realty represented the landlord, Panattoni Development, which developed the 356,000-square-foot building. Now occupied by two tenants, the facility has one remaining available space of 96,150 square feet. The property features a clear height of 36 feet, six exterior docks, one grade-level door and office spaces. Mike Plumb of Lee & Associates represented Green Bay Packaging.
COLUMBUS, OHIO — Alterra IOS, an industrial outdoor storage (IOS) company, has acquired two IOS properties totaling 22.3 acres in Columbus for an undisclosed price. The sites include 4080 Business Park Drive and 2222 New World Drive. Both are located minutes from downtown, offering tenants convenient access to major interstates, national rail networks and international airports. The property at 4080 Business Park Drive totals more than eight acres and features 20,120 square feet of accompanying warehouse space. A full-service trailer leasing provider entered into a long-term lease agreement at closing. Ascension Advisory negotiated the sale. The facility at 2222 New World Drive includes 14 acres with 50,238 square feet of accompanying warehouse space. JLL brokered the sale. Alterra now owns six sites in the Columbus area.
WARREN, OHIO — U-Haul has repurposed a 7.8-acre retail lot formerly home to a Chase bank and Tops Friendly Market grocery store in Warren, about 50 miles southeast of Cleveland. U-Haul Moving & Storage of Warren North, located at 3394 Elm Road NE, is currently serving customers out of a temporary retail showroom and is scheduled to complete renovations by summer 2025. Services immediately available include moving truck rentals, trailers, towing devices, boxes and moving supplies. Plans call for the addition of 1,000 indoor climate-controlled self-storage units with high-tech security features. The 69,000-square-foot complex will host a warehouse space that can store up to 500 U-Box portable moving and storage containers. Once renovations are finished, the store will also offer services such as professional hitch installation and propane.
In the Tampa Bay area, industrial activity remains strong to this point in 2024. According to market research from Colliers, the industrial market closed the first quarter of the year with a vacancy rate below 6 percent. From 2019 to 2022, leasing activity increased, with some fluctuations between quarters. Meanwhile, 2023 saw more than 12.2 million square feet of renewals, expansions and new leases in the greater Tampa Bay area. The data backs up what we are seeing as brokers – a high-demand market with positive net absorption. With that, there are also several trends that have emerged in 2024. 1.) A generally competitive but well-balanced market. While the Tampa Bay industrial market is competitive, it’s overall well-balanced — favoring neither the landlord nor tenant in its current state (of course, dependent on size and submarket). This balance can be attributed to a slowdown in new construction, high occupancy rates, rising rental rates and continued strong demand. However, rates are not rising as quickly as they have been in the past few years, and tenants are selective about space and want to see several options and thoroughly survey the market before executing a deal. There are also pockets of the …
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — A partnership between Phoenix-based developer Creation Real Estate and J.P. Morgan Asset Management has sold Fort West Commerce Center, a 531,601-square-foot industrial property in Fort Worth. The development comprises three buildings on a 30-acre site on the city’s north side. Tenants at Fort West Commerce Center include Lockheed Martin (136,135 square feet) and Big Ass Fans (221,444 square feet). The buyer was High Street Logistics Properties, an investment firm based in metro Boston. No third-party brokers were involved in the deal.
ALLEN, TEXAS — Amphenol Fiber Systems International (AFSI) has preleased a 94,413-square-foot industrial building in Allen, a northeastern suburb of Dallas. The manufacturer of harsh-environment fiber optic cables is taking space at 121 Technology Park, a development by Stillwater Capital, that will serve as its new headquarters. Mike Kay of Colliers represented the tenant in the lease negotiations. Ken Wesson of Lee & Associates represented the landlord. Occupancy is slated for October.
NEWARK, DEL. — AirJoule, which provides atmospheric water harvesting services, has signed a 30,000-square-foot industrial lease in Newark, Del. The space can support both manufacturing and office operations, and AirJoule is also leasing 500 square feet at The Innovation Space in Wilmington’s DuPont Experimental Station for research and development activities. The company expects to invest about $15 million in its Newark operation and hire about 60 people over the next several years.
NASHVILLE, ARK. — Phoenix Investors has purchased three industrial properties in Nashville, a city in southwest Arkansas. Swedish power tool manufacturer Husqvarna sold the properties, which total roughly 816,000 square feet, for an undisclosed price. Husqvarna had previously decided to shutter its Nashville plants in July 2023 with the goal to phase out the properties by the end of 2024. The acquisition includes a 351,763-square-foot facility located at 630 Highway 27 Bypass; a 299,885-square-foot property at 1 Poulan Drive; and a 165,046-square-foot facility at 139 Old Airport Road. Phoenix Investors plans to implement a capital improvement plan to attract high-quality industrial users to the area. The acquisition also included a solar farm of an undisclosed size.
CAMERON PARK, CALIF. — Canada-based Can-Windoor Hardware USA LLC has entered the United States market with the acquisition of an industrial headquarters property in Cameron Park, approximately 30 miles east of Sacramento. Reynolds Family Trust sold the asset for $5.3 million. The seller originally built the 33,183-square-foot property, located at 4261 Business Drive, as headquarters for its business, Snowline Engineering. The property includes a full rooftop solar array. Mark Hefner of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, while David Campbell of Marcus & Millichap Capital Corp. advised the buyer and seller in the deal.