Dermody Launches 10 MSF Logistics Campus
This is expected to be the largest port-area industrial project to get underway in the Southeast this year.
Dermody is launching development of Port Wentworth Commerce Center, a 1,065-acre, 10 million-square-foot master-planned logistics project located 6.5 miles from the Port of Savannah in Georgia.
It is expected to be the largest near-port logistics development to begin construction in the Southeast this year. The site is the closest to a U.S. major seaport that can accommodate buildings of 1 million square feet or larger.
The Port of Savannah is the fastest-growing port in the U.S. and the third-busiest seaport in the nation. The Georgia Ports Authority states the port facility generates 35 ships per week, 42 double-stack container trains per week and 7,000 trucks each business day. GPA is investing $4.5 billion over the next 10 years to grow the port’s capacity and competitiveness.
“Port Wentworth Commerce Center offers logistics users a unique combination of scale, speed and infrastructure to fuel their business. The project is perfectly positioned to meet the demands of companies serving the rapidly growing Southeast economy,” Wes Hardy, Southeast region partner for Dermody, told Commercial Property Executive.
“Our team is ready to execute a great large-scale project that is located only 6.5 miles from the Port of Savannah, 1 mile from 1-95, with unmatched power service and a Class One rail connection. It is a one-of-a-kind project.”
The property has both Class One railroads—CSX and Norfolk-Southern—at the site and is in a designated Foreign Trade Zone, which allows tenants to defer, reduce or eliminate tariffs on imported goods.
First two spec buildings started
Hardy said Dermody acquired the site through an off-market transaction between an Atlanta-based firm which executed the property assemblage and entitlement of the project. He did not disclose the seller or price.
The firm has started construction of the first two speculative buildings that are expected to deliver by second quarter of 2026. Both buildings will have 42-foot clear heights and 8-inch slab floors. Building A will have 538,775 square feet of warehouse space and 5,600 square feet of office space. It will feature 244 auto parking and 176 trailer parking spaces along with 107 dock positions. The 740,375-square-foot Building B will have 360 auto parking and 224 trailer parking spaces and 140 dock positions.
“All sites in the master plan are available for preleasing or build-to-suit today. We will selectively start future speculative buildings as market conditions dictate,” Hardy told CPE.
The master plan’s site plan has a total of 18 buildings on the map, including Buildings A and B. There are three buildings in an area designed for C1, a 334,800-square-foot building, C2, a 318,060-square-foot building, and C3, a 367,200-square-foot building.
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The largest building on the current site map would be Building E at approximately 1.4 million square feet, followed by Building D with about 1.1 million square feet. Building J is set at 982,800 square feet and Building M is planned at 936,000 square feet. The remaining buildings on the site plan range in size from 234,360 square feet to 617,760 square feet.
Those plans may change depending on market conditions and possible build-to-suit developments.
“We can provide buildings of a variety of sizes, ranging from 100,000 square feet to 1.4 million square feet,” Hardy said. “However, we do have the ability to develop four buildings of 1 million square feet or larger.”
Executive Vice President Bill Sparks and First Vice President Preston Andrews of CBRE in Savannah are handling marketing and leasing.
Infrastructure and power detailed
Hardy said Dermody is constructing the supporting infrastructure for the project, including a 2.2-mile-long roadway, all utilities, a new signalized intersection on Georgia Highway 21 and a storm water management canal. All the utilities, including water, sewer, power, gas and fiber optics, will be installed along the roadway to ensure operability from the project’s inception.
The site has a strong power infrastructure, both in capacity and availability. It is adjacent to dual 230KV transmission lines and a Georgia Power-owned 115KV substation is located on-site. The project has been identified as one of the few locations in the state with capacity to provide 1 gigawatt of power service. Port Wentworth Commerce Center is also 8 miles north of Georgia Powers’s Plant McIntosh, a natural gas-powered production facility that will reinforce the site’s ability and reliability to support high-capacity power users.
Other Dermody properties
Dermody’s Southeast region spans nine states with particular focus on the major logistics markets of Savannah; Atlanta; Nashville, Tenn.; Charlotte, N.C.; and Central Florida. The firm currently has four projects under construction in the region and more than 1.5 million square feet of space available for lease.
Port Wentworth Commerce Center is not Dermody’s first venture in the Savannah market. In July 2023, Dermody acquired 2509 Dean Forest Road, a 312,000-square-foot, cross-dock logistics facility in Garden City, Ga. Completed in 2009, the fully leased Class A property is situated on 34 acres of land 1 mile from the Garden City Terminal at the Port of Savannah.
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