WREB recently sat down with Tom van Betten, vice president of Matter Real Estate Group. The San Diego-baseed real estate development company currently has 2.5 million square feet of industrial projets either in development or owned by Matter. One of those four projects is Matter Logistics @ North 15, a 930,000-square-foot warehouse/distribution project in North Las Vegas that spans two buildings. Below, Van Betten discusses the firm’s attraction to the Las Vegas Valley, where he sees the industry heading and how Matter is able to find developable land in tight markets.
WREB: What about the North Las Vegas submarket is attractive to Matter?
Van Betten: Right now, Matter is focused on scale and land availability. North Las Vegas is currently where the larger available land parcels are — or were. I say “were” because there is a real shortage of land that has the infrastructure to develop, such as power and water. On the scale size, the tenants moving to Las Vegas continue to grow in size. To accommodate that demand, we are focused on larger sights.
WREB: How were you able to acquire more than 42 acres for the new Matter Logistics @ North 15? As you mention, transactions of that size are rare now in North Las Vegas.
Tom van Betten, vice president of Matter Real Estate Group
Van Betten: This site was sourced internally by tracking and scouring all opportunities to buy properties with more than 20 or 30 acres anywhere in the Valley.
WREB: Matter Logistics @ North 15 will have 40 feet of height clearance, a first for this region. Why was this an important feature for you?
Van Betten: It is another example of future-proofing. We don’t expect many companies today will utilize all 40 feet, but the trend is clearly going that direction as technology integrates with logistics. Further, we are seeing 40’ is the standard on new developments in the most established industrial markets.
WREB: What is your take on industrial spec development, both within the Las Vegas market and throughout the West?
Van Betten: Industrial tenants have very few choices. They can ship themselves, outsource to other logistics companies or utilize Amazon or the like, but in each case the product has to be stored somewhere. As that shipping business continues to grow, that means absorption of spec industrial space. But developers need land, and there are not many master-planned industrial parks in Southern Nevada or the West where you can buy shovel-ready land. Entitlements and infrastructure can take months or years. Therefore, we think supply is the challenge, not demand.
WREB: What’s next on the horizon for Matter in terms of industrial?
Van Betten: We are actively pursuing many sites and are always looking. Although we will look at pioneering sites, we prefer to assemble fringe and infill opportunities.