{"id":1004094863,"date":"2014-04-17T11:03:44","date_gmt":"2014-04-17T19:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004094863"},"modified":"2025-02-24T01:47:46","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T09:47:46","slug":"twitter-chat-walter-byrd-on-free-trade-zones-industrial-re","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/twitter-chat-walter-byrd-on-free-trade-zones-industrial-re\/","title":{"rendered":"Twitter Chat: Walter Byrd on Free-Trade Zones & Industrial RE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Transwestern\u2019s Southeast Managing Director Walter Byrd took time out of his busy schedule to chat with Commercial \"Byrd_Twitter_Feature\"<\/a>Property Executive<\/em>\u00a0editors about\u00a0free-trade zones and industrial real estate,\u00a0in 140 characters or less per Tweet.<\/p>\n

Byrd is recognized as one of the top brokers in the South Florida marketplace. During his career, he and his team have represented some of the largest corporate users in South Florida, have leased properties on behalf of many major institutional owners, and have helped clients purchase and sell assets.<\/p>\n

What follows is a transcript of the exchange.<\/p>\n

CPE:<\/strong>\u00a0Welcome to CPE\u2019s Twitter Chat. Today, we have with us Walter Byrd.\u00a0Walter is the Managing Director at Transwestern, specializing in industrial real estate.\u00a0We will be chatting live about free- trade zones and industrial real estate.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Byrd:<\/strong><\/em> Thanks CPExecutive! I’m glad to be here.<\/p>\n

CPE:\u00a0Walter, what are the benefits that attract companies to foreign-trade zones?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Byrd:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0The most well-known benefit is the ability to avoid or defer duties on goods, however there are more.\u00a0\u00a0More companies are taking advantage of ability to file once a week and pay only one filing fee vs. filing for each entry.\u00a0For a company receiving 50+ containers a week, the\u00a0MPF savings could be as much as $20,000 a week.<\/p>\n

Transwestern NYC (Twitter follower): Could you share what MPF stands for?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Byrd:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Merchandise processing fee, the filing fee paid to U.S. customs for each entry.\u00a0Each entry could include multiple containers.\u00a0The last benefit of an FTZ is companies do not pay duty for material that is lost or damaged and disposed of.<\/p>\n

CPE: H<\/strong>ow do buildings achieve FTZ designation?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Byrd:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>The designation is actually conferred on the land under the building.\u00a0With the new Alternative Site Framework passed in 2009, property owners can apply to the closest FTZ. Owners can have their property added to an FTZ under the ASF, provided the user makes use of the zone benefits.<\/p>\n

CPE:\u00a0\u00a0Why the increased interest in groups promoting and companies relocating into FTZs over the last five years?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Byrd:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Economic downturn spurred the Department of Commerce to seek ways to increase imports and exports, which would create more jobs.\u00a0ASF gave FTZs greater flexibility to modify the boundaries and buildings receiving FTZ benefits. This increased company’s interest in FTZs is due to the ability to reduce duties and processing fees.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Dawson\u00a0(Twitter follower):\u00a0Have you seen any changes to the design of foreign-trade zones, in terms of the physical real estate?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Byrd:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Most buildings on FTZ designated land can qualify for status.\u00a0Over the last 15 years \u00a0and with increasing frequency since ASF, most FTZ buildings are modern distribution or manufacturing buildings.<\/p>\n

CPE:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>How will the widening of the Panama Canal affect FTZs?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Byrd:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>The canal widening will likely increase the volume of goods coming into the Gulf and East Coast ports by 5-7 percent.\u00a0With few ports able to handle the draft of the post-Panamex vessels, the concentration of goods into those fewer ports should\u00a0increase the demand for FTZs as companies take advantage of the benefits.<\/p>\n

CPE:<\/strong><\/em> When should a landlord consider having a property\/park designated as an FTZ?<\/p>\n

Byrd:<\/strong><\/em> Landlords generally seek FTZ status when they have the demand for status from a user.\u00a0Owners with properties near major ports\/intermodal hubs may create a competitive advantage by pre-designating the site as an FTZ.\u00a0Cost for FTZ status is minimal for a landlord. Zone status can be (de)activated, so site can be used for non-FTZ use.<\/p>\n

NAR Global:\u00a0What are requirements for building in FTZs? Possible to approximate number of buildings in FTZs\/number of people employed (U.S.)?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Byrd:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Requirements for buildings vary based on use and tenant needs.\u00a0From a compliance perspective, the most important aspect is securing the facility to maintain the integrity of the FTZ.<\/p>\n

CPE:<\/em><\/strong> What kinds of companies should consider the FTZ program?\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Byrd:<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0Any company that occupies 200,000 square feet of warehouse space and imports\/exports goods through that warehouse could reap FTZ benefits.\u00a0Any company manufacturing or assembling goods with as little as $5 million of imported parts or raw materials should evaluate as well.<\/p>\n

CPE:\u00a0Thank you for the informative chat, Walter.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Byrd:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>It’s been a pleasure! Glad that I could be an informative source of information on this specific topic.\u00a0For more information on foreign-trade zones, here’s a helpful brochure https:\/\/ow.ly\/vEMRw\u00a0<\/a> #FTZ<\/a> #CPEchat<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Transwestern\u2019s Southeast Managing Director Walter Byrd took time out of his busy schedule to chat with Commercial Property Executive editors about free-trade zones and industrial real estate, in 140 characters or less per Tweet<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":952,"featured_media":1004093503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22251,21742],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1004094863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-in-focus","category-latest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTwitter Chat: Walter Byrd on Free-Trade Zones & Industrial RE - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/twitter-chat-walter-byrd-on-free-trade-zones-industrial-re\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Twitter Chat: Walter Byrd on Free-Trade Zones & Industrial RE\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Transwestern\u2019s Southeast Managing Director Walter Byrd took time out of his busy schedule to chat with Commercial Property Executive editors about free-trade zones and industrial real estate, in 140 characters or less per Tweet\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/twitter-chat-walter-byrd-on-free-trade-zones-industrial-re\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Property Executive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CPExecutive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-04-17T19:03:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-24T09:47:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2014\/03\/Byrd_Twitter_Feature.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anna Spiewak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cpexecutive\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/twitter-chat-walter-byrd-on-free-trade-zones-industrial-re\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/twitter-chat-walter-byrd-on-free-trade-zones-industrial-re\/\",\"name\":\"Twitter Chat: Walter Byrd on Free-Trade Zones & Industrial RE - 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