A venture headed by Aliso Viejo-based CT Realty and Seal Beach-based Xebec Realty Partners has kicked off construction of one of the largest industrial developments currently on the books in the U.S. at a site they own in Texas.
The Orange County commercial real estate developers said this month that they began work on the first phase of the Southport Logistics Park, a $500 million industrial project about 12 miles south of downtown Dallas.
They bought the 530-acre site in 2013 on undisclosed terms under a venture they control and that now operates under the Port Logistics Realty name. The developers spent the past two years completing the master plan for the project and entitling the site.
Other investors in Port Logistics Realty include Diamond Realty Investments Inc., a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corp. in Japan, as well as several wealthy investors in Orange County.
During the project’s first construction phase, Port Logistics plans to invest $22 million for infrastructure and build five industrial buildings totaling more than 3.8 million square feet.
The first two buildings will run 1.1 million square feet and 400,000 square feet, respectively, and are scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2016, the developers said.
Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers in Santa Monica and Little Rock, Ark.-based Bank of the Ozarks are also participating in the
capital structure of the initial development phase.
The finished park will have up to nine buildings ranging in size from 400,000 square feet to 1.5 million square feet. It’s being designed for some of the world’s largest users of distribution, logistics and e-commerce facilities.
Speculative and build-to-suit buildings are planned for the site, which is next to an intermodal terminal run by railroad giant Union Pacific Corp. and close to one of the largest Federal Express hubs in the country.
The Union Pacific and FedEx facilities “are critical pieces of global supply chain infrastructure that offer a tremendous transportation cost advantage and will draw logistics and e-commerce users to the Southport project,” said Xebec Chief Executive Randy Kendrick in a statement.
The greater Dallas-Fort Worth market had more than 16 million square feet of net absorption last year and more than 6 million square feet of absorption in the first quarter of this year, according to James “Watty” Watson, CT Realty’s chief executive.
The fast absorption pace “is projected to increase in 2015,” Watson said.
The two companies said in 2013 that the Dallas deal is an expansion of their Southern California strategy, which focuses on building and buying warehouse and distribution properties that serve the Long Beach and Los Angeles ports.
The combined ports account for more than 40% of inbound container traffic to the U.S. every year. A significant share of the traffic moves inland by rail to Dallas, typically within four or five days after leaving the West Coast, the developers said.
Land Opportunity
The city of Anaheim is looking for a commercial developer to take over ownership of a nearly 7-acre site it owns just off the Santa Ana (5) Freeway.
It recently sent a request for proposals for the property at 1710 S. Anaheim Way. The one-way street connects Katella Avenue and the Platinum Triangle to Anaheim Boulevard and the Anaheim Resort area.
The largely vacant site was once considered for a city park and recreation area, but California regulatory agencies nixed that idea several years ago due to the site’s proximity to the freeway. Now the city is looking to sell the land to a developer.
“A review of the highest and best use of the subject site has determined that the site would be best served with manufacturing, industrial, research and development or technology-type uses,” according to the RFP.
A project of up to 150,000 square feet is possible if the city zones the site for high-end industrial or R&D uses, which could take place this summer.
A minimum bid of $9.7 million is expected for the property, according to city filings.
The city’s Industrial Development Authority is available to finance up to $10 million of the project’s cost through tax-exempt financing, according to the RFP.
Developer submissions are due Aug. 6.
