GOODYEAR, ARIZ. — Fairlife, a milk production company, plans to develop a 300,000-square-foot production and distribution facility in Goodyear. Slated to begin operations in late 2020, the $200 million facility will house product lines to accommodate growing demand. Working with the United Dairymen of Arizona to source milk from numerous dairy farmers in Goodyear, the new Fairlife plant will enable increased production of all its products, including different varieties of ultra-filtered milk, Core Power, fairlife YUP!, fairlife smart snacks and fairlife nutrition plan. Located at the corner of Cotton Lane and Thomas Road within Palm Valley 303 Business Park, the new facility will feature advanced manufacturing technologies and energy-saving equipment to reduce power consumption, while creating more than 140 local jobs.
GERMANTOWN, WIS. — Zilber Property Group has unveiled plans to develop two speculative industrial facilities totaling 403,021 square feet in Germantown, a northwest submarket of Milwaukee. The buildings will be situated within the newly constructed Germantown Gateway Corporate Park. Currently, a 706,000-square-foot distribution facility occupied by Wauwatosa-based Briggs & Stratton Corp. anchors the business park. The new facilities will feature clear heights of 30 feet, LED lighting and ESFR sprinkler systems. A timeline for development was not disclosed.
HOUSTON — Indianapolis-based REIT Duke Realty (NYSE: DRE) will develop Clay 99 Building 5, a 433,200-square-foot speculative industrial project in Houston. The property, which will be marketed to logistics users, will be situated on 23.7 acres just off Grand Parkway at the intersection of Clay and Peek roads on the city’s northwest side. Building features will include 36-foot clear heights, 190-foot truck courts on both sides, 347 automobile parking spaces and 100 trailer parking spaces. Delivery is slated for February 2020.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — The Jenkins Organization, a Houston-based developer and operator of self-storage properties, will build a 728-unit facility in the Oak Hill neighborhood of Austin. The company recently closed on the land for the 123,000-square-foot facility and expects to complete the project by September of this year. The facility will offer both climate- and non-climate-controlled units, as well as covered loading zones, gated security entry and electronic security monitoring throughout.
The strength of the New Jersey industrial market continues to evidence itself through consistent demand, rising rental rates and record low vacancy rates across the region. Much of the recent success has been the result of e-commerce growth and expansion among distribution and light manufacturing businesses looking to tap into the market’s port, air cargo, and major transportation networks. While developers have been working to bring new inventory to the market, the new space is being absorbed quickly, leaving tenants with limited options for space. The New Jersey industrial market has seen significant demand for the past 20 quarters and a steady, often rapid, rate of absorption. The market saw 13.6 million square feet of absorption in 2018, according to research from Avison Young. The epitome of this market expansion trend and the most obvious to investors is the activity along the New Jersey Turnpike, from Exit 8A where the market was at a staggering 1 percent vacancy rate at the end of 2018 up to the Exit 10 Edison Market, where rents may soon reach $9 per square foot net. Notable Deals A little farther north into the Carteret /Avenel and Linden/Elizabeth markets much of the activity is focused …
OCALA, FLA. — Gladstone Commercial Corp. has acquired a two-building, 383,000-square-foot industrial portfolio in Ocala for $19.1 million. The two buildings are fully leased to Signature Brands LLC with a 20-year lease term. Gladstone acquired the buildings in a sale-leaseback transaction with Signature Brands, a food manufacturer and distributor focusing on confectionary products like sugar, sprinkles and icings. The first building, a 207,000-square-foot facility located at 1900 SW 38th Ave., was built in 2001 and expanded in 2010 and primarily serves as Signature Brands’ popcorn manufacturing and distribution center. Signature Brands has invested more than $15 million in the facility. The other building is located at 808 SW 12th St., spans 176,000 square feet and is used for the manufacturing of decorative baking products.
SHELBYVILLE, IND. — Greenleaf Foods SPC has selected Shelbyville as the location for a new plant-based protein foods production facility. The company says it will invest $310 million in the new plant and create as many as 460 jobs by the end of 2022. The 230,000-square-foot facility will double Greenleaf’s production capacity. Greenleaf has not yet selected a general contractor for the build-to-suit project. Incentives from the city and Shelby County totaled $2.5 million. The state offered up to $5 million in conditional tax credits and as much as $1 million in training grants based on job creation plans. The state also offered up to $1.25 million from the Industrial Development Grant Fund. Greenleaf makes foods under the Lightlife Foods and Field Roast Grain Meat Co. brands. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toronto-based Maple Leaf Foods Inc. Established in 2018, Greenleaf is headquartered in Chicago and currently operates facilities in Seattle and Turner Falls, Mass.
BOLINGBROOK, ILL. — Old World Industries has signed a 354,400-square-foot industrial lease to fully occupy Crossroads Parkway 605 in Bolingbrook. Duke Realty owns the building, which is located at 605 West Crossroads Parkway. Old World Industries is an automotive and chemical company. Britt Casey of Cushman & Wakefield represented the tenant in the lease transaction. Jeff Fischer and John Whitehead of NAI Hiffman represented Duke.
PLYMOUTH, IND. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Discount Storage in Plymouth for $3.4 million. The 373-unit, 45,400-square-foot self-storage property is located at 16220 Lincoln Highway. Constructed in 2016, the facility features 272 non-climate-controlled units, 88 climate-controlled units, surveillance cameras and outside parking. Sean Delaney of Marcus & Millichap represented the buyer and seller. Josh Caruana assisted on the transaction as the broker of record in Indiana.
The combined forces of population growth, increased online shopping and demand for last-mile fulfillment centers are driving development of and investment in industrial assets in major markets. Natural population growth translates to more aggregate demand and consumption of goods and services. The rise of e-commerce has guaranteed that a growing percentage of those products will be ordered online and delivered to end users within a few days, hence the need for more fulfillment and distribution facilities near major population centers. The metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) of Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Houston are home to a combined 13 million or so people and counting. Both MSAs have seen major upticks in industrial development over the last several years while also posting record absorption numbers. And despite some vast differences between the industries and users driving demand in DFW and Houston, both markets reflect how sweeping changes in consumer behavior have elevated the fundamentals of their industrial real estate inventories. Regardless how different their economies are, demand for space in both markets should remain robust in 2019. By The Numbers According to CoStar Group, DFW posted positive net absorption of approximately 20 million square feet in 2018, a year in which inventory …