Hines Breaks Ground on Atlanta-Area Logistics Park

Busch Logistics Park. Image courtesy of Hines

In its first logistics property in the Atlanta area, Hines has broken ground on Busch Logistics Park, a 97-acre industrial project with two buildings and nearly 732,000 square feet in Bartow County, Ga. Hines will be developing two speculative facilities—Building A will have 523,541 square feet with a cross-dock configuration and a 36-foot clear height and Building B will have 207,989 square feet, a rear load configuration and 32-foot clear height. Both will deliver in the third quarter.

READ ALSO: Hines Pays $129M for Amazon Fulfillment Center

The Houston-based international real estate firm has selected JLL Managing Director Bob Currie and Executive Vice President Reed Davis to handle marketing and leasing for the site located off I-75 and Cass White Road. It is situated in the Northwest submarket, an area that has seen significant recent investment from large industrial users. The industrial park is located within 60 miles of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and is within close proximity to the new Inland Port in Chatsworth, Ga. Davis said in a prepared statement the Northwest corridor is booming and there has already been interest from prospective tenants. He noted there has been increased demand for high-quality logistics solutions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Zack Markwell, managing principal & CEO of Stonemont Financial Group, said the Atlanta-based private real estate investment firm was pleased to partner with Hines and JLL to create a key logistics and distribution hub in Northwest Atlanta that will attract a wide variety of industrial users. He said in prepared remarks the industrial park is positioned for future growth due to the e-commerce boom.

Ryan Wood, senior director of industrial development and acquisitions at Hines, said in a prepared statement the combination of the larger cross-dock building and the rear-load building will allow them to service tenants seeking 75,000 to more than 500,000 square feet. JLL’s third quarter Industrial Insight report noted more than 100 tenants are currently surveying the area and about 4.3 million square feet of new deals are expected to close this year.

Hines logistics deals

In December, Hines sold two industrial assets in Dallas and Houston totaling 1.8 million square feet to KKR in a deal valued at $171 million. The locations were not disclosed but the assets were described as state-of-the-art properties that were each fully occupied by a single investment grade-tenant with long-term leases.

A month earlier, Hines acquired a 209,013-square-foot European logistics park with three warehouses for $105.9 million on behalf of the Hines Pan-European Core Fund. The properties were located near London’s Heathrow Airport and were purchased from Aberdeen Standard Investments. It was the fourth urban logistics investment by HECF and the third in the Greater London area over an 18-month period.