VanTrust Lands Shipping Giant for Columbus-Area Project

A rendering of the DSV’s new facility at the New Albany Tech Park. Image courtesy of VanTrust development

VanTrust Real Estate is set to begin construction later this month on a 1.2 million-square-foot build-to-suit warehouse facility in New Albany, Ohio, the first of multiple projects anticipated at its New Albany Tech Park development within the New Albany International Business Park.

The developer will build the facility for use by Danish shipping giant DSV, which will serve as the first tenant on the property. The facility, hitherto the largest component of the 482-acre, 5.5 million-square-foot development and the most sizeable of its kind in New Albany, is scheduled for delivery in December 2024.

In 2022, VanTrust broke ground on Innovation II and New Albany 525, two properties within the New Albany International Business Park, measuring 302,400 square feet and 524,500 square feet, respectively.

A park within a park

VanTrust had first announced construction of the industrial campus in July of 2022. The property is located at the intersection of Harrison and Clover Valley Roads, roughly 13 miles outside Columbus. The facility will sit within 20 miles of a population of 2.1 million residents, with a civilian labor force of 1.1 million.

The New Albany International Business Park is a 9,000-acre, master-planned mixed-use development that includes office, industrial, retail and multifamily housing. Presently, the plan has attracted more than $6 billion in investments across asset classes, and current and future tenants include Google, Meta, Amgen and American Electric Power.

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The building of DSV’s new digs is being overseen by Pepper Construction, RED Architects and EMH&T, which will serve as the property’s general contractor, architect and civil engineer, respectively.

The full build-out of the New Albany Tech Park will take place along four development sites totaling approximately 2.1 million square feet, with the option to add two additional phases totaling 3.4 million square feet.

Buildings in the current development area are intended for rear-loaded industrial warehousing, as well as logistics and flex offices. The speculative projects range between 60,000 and 524,500 square feet and are able to house as many as 128 dock doors, alongside four drive-in doors.

Heart of the Silicon Heartland

Once completed, the property will sit within metro Columbus’ “Silicon Heartland,” one of the largest tech-focused office and industrial districts in the Midwest, home to a 1,000-acre, $20 billion Intel manufacturing campus, which is currently underway. The Intel campus will be located adjacent to the New Albany Tech Park.

Earlier this year, Amazon Web Services paid $117 million to purchase 400 acres in New Albany, for the construction of new data centers. The acquisition was part of a recent $7.8 billion investment in Central Ohio.