Tempus Realty Brews Up 530 KSF Arkansas Facility

Tempus Realty Partners has completed a 530,000-square-foot industrial property in Conway, Ark., jointly developed with its net-lease tenant, Westrock Coffee Co. The coffee and beverage ingredient supplier will occupy the entire building and plans to use it for warehousing, packaging and distribution operations in support of its nearby ready-to-drink product manufacturing plant. Ted Dickey, an asset manager at Lighthouse Asset Advisors, represented the company in the partnership.

To bring this project to fruition, Tempus worked with Lewis Architects, Clark Contractors and Engineering Consultants, who respectively provided design, construction and engineering services. Build Nimble and Colliers Arkansas served as construction managers.

Doubling down in Conway

Construction of Westrock Coffee’s new Conway facility began in February 2023. The $70 million facility was built to package and store product in support of a nearby Westrock factory that produces and packages canned, bottled and powdered single-serve coffees, as well as teas and juices.

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Built on 30 acres, the warehouse features a 36-foot clear height, 100,000 square feet of production areas and a 13,000-square-foot office space. Located at 1430 William J. Clark Drive, the property is roughly 1 mile southeast of the local production facility, while two other Westrock facilities are 16 and 26 miles to the south and southeast, respectively, in Little Rock, Ark. The company’s headquarters is 20 miles south, across Murray Lake.

The Conway facility opens at a time when Westrock Coffee continues to expand its domestic manufacturing capabilities around the Southeast. Over the next five years, the firm plans to invest more than $300 million around Central Arkansas and create 600 new jobs.

Little Rock, the big industrial hub?

As of the third quarter of 2023, vacancy rates around Little Rock averaged 3.4 percent, an increase from the previous quarters’ rate of 3.2 percent, according to Colliers research. Flex vacancy rates were down 100 basis points to 6.4 percent over the quarter.

At the end of last year’s first quarter, the metro was one of the top five markets for industrial development in the South, CommercialEdge data shows. A 1.3 million-square-foot logistics center developed by Tractor Supply Co. at 150 Champs Blvd. in Maumelle, Ark., was the largest project under construction as of April. 

One of the more significant deals to close in The Rock last year was Sealy & Co.’s acquisition of a 185,475-square-foot facility. Tempus Realty sold the Class B asset in an off-market transaction.