MIAMI —Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LRY) has plans to develop the 1.6 million-square-foot Miami International Tradeport, a $135 million industrial park located on Florida’s Turnpike, south of Okeechobee Road in Miami. Coconut Creek, Fla.-based Butters Construction & Development has been selected to oversee construction of the park.
“We feel there is a tremendous opportunity for well-designed and located industrial product in Miami-Dade County, and we are excited to begin development and to grow our footprint in South Florida,” said Andy Petry, vice president and city manager for Malvern, Pa.-based Liberty.
Currently, the company is moving through the entitlement process with final zoning approval anticipated in January. Institutional-grade warehouse and distribution space will be included in the park. Construction on the first speculative distribution buildings is slated to begin in late 2012, along with the basic infrastructure for the park. The project will be built in phases during the next 5 to 7 years, and will create 4,000 new construction jobs and 2,000 full-time jobs upon completion.
“Miami is quickly becoming one of the top industrial gateway cities in the United States and is considered, along with Southern California, as one of the uber-core markets where all the institutional real estate owners must have a presence,” said Malcolm Butters, president of Butters, in a statement.
“This site was clearly one of the last large land tracts available in western Miami-Dade County for industrial development and will enable us to attract large users,” continued Butters. “There is currently no space available to industrial users seeking more than 500,000 square feet of space. In addition, Miami will be one of only three ports on the East Coast that can accommodate the new Panamax ships.”
The company acquired the 126-acre site from Tarmac America for $20 million. Christian Lee, Charles Foschini, Devin White, David Albert and Jose Lobon of CBRE’s Miami office, along with Chris Riley of CBRE’s Atlanta office, brokered the transaction.
Liberty Property Trust owns and manages 1.8 million square feet of office and industrial properties in South Florida, and nearly 78 million square feet total in the United States and the U.K.
Liberty’s share price closed at $30.20 on December 16, up from $28.52 a year ago.
— Savannah Duncan