Duke’s Logistics Launch in Big D
Duke Realty Corp. has been tapped to develop a build-to-suit bulk industrial building in Hutchins, Texas.
By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor
Duke Realty Corp. is developing a 589,362-square-foot, build-to-suit bulk industrial building for Shippers Warehouse Inc., in Hutchins, Texas.
The new facility will be constructed on a 32-acre, rail-served site in Prime Pointe, a 3,000-acre industrial park at I-45 and East Wintergreen Road surrounding the Union Pacific Dallas Intermodal Terminal in South Dallas.
“We are pleased to have been selected by Shippers Warehouse as the developer and owner for its new, rail-served distribution center in South Dallas,” Jeff Thornton, Duke Realty’s senior vice president of its Texas Region, said in a prepared statement. “We’ve had the pleasure of knowing Ken Johnson, president of Shippers, and Graham Swank, their COO, through the warehouse management services they provide to two of our large tenants in other Duke Realty buildings.”
The city of Hutchins has four million square feet of new industrial projects currently under construction and South Dallas overall is strong thanks to a robust workforce and responsive local governments that embrace commercial development.
According to the CBRE Dallas/Fort Worth 2015 Q2 Industrial market report, occupier demand staked a 15-year record in the area, and posted positive absorption for the 19th consecutive quarter.
Shippers’ distribution center will feature 32-foot clear heights, a 7,000-square-foot office, and 56 x 54 feet typical column spacing. Spacing will increase to 60 x 54 feet at the dock bays. Spaces for 128 cars and 183 trailer spaces will be on-site, as well as 185-foot truck courts.
“Duke Realty became our first choice as the developer of our new facility because of the expertise they have in developing bulk warehouses and the ongoing care and concern they have for their tenants,” Ken Johnson, Shippers’ president said in a prepared statement. “Plus Duke Realty had already done due diligence on a parcel near UP’s Dallas Intermodal Terminal and they were able to quickly move to put this site in production to meet our occupancy date.”
The new facility will allow the company to consolidate warehouse operations from two locations in Dallas and Garland under one roof, plus provide it with flexibility for future expansion. UP will serve the building off a spur from the UP main line that runs through the Dallas Intermodal Terminal.
Al Leon and Larry Leon with Logistics Realty represented Shippers Warehouse in the transaction while Duke Realty was represented by Matt Hyman, its leasing representative.
