U.S. Lumber Group has signed a full-building, 550,000-square-foot lease at Logistics Property Co.’s Southern Star Logistics Park in Midlothian, Texas. The agreement also included 25 acres of adjacent outdoor storage land, as well as dual rail service.
CBRE assisted the owner, while Cresa represented the tenant, a subsidiary of Specialty Building Products.
Concurrently, LPC renegotiated financing conditions with the facility’s lender, Veritex Community Bank. The new contract extended the initial loan maturity and added a new lender—American National Bank of Texas.
Veritex had issued a $21 million construction note in 2021, CommercialEdge data shows. Public records indicate that the lender agreed to extend the maturity until May 2027 with two additional one-year extension options.
READ ALSO: Staying Busy When Industrial Momentum Hits the Brakes
In prepared remarks, LPC Vice President Max Mueller noted that U.S. Lumber Group chose Southern Star Logistics Park for its rail services and heavy power, both required for the distribution of its specialty building materials.
The speculative, 548,340-square-foot warehouse features 36-foot clear heights, 185-foot truck courts, 60-foot speed bays, 96 dock doors, eight 40,000-pound mechanical pit levelers and 2,623 square feet of office space, as well as 136 trailer and 216 car parking spots. Furthermore, LPC plans to expand the property with a build-to-suit, 582,400-square-foot facility.
Completed in 2022 at 3210 Railport Parkway, Southern Star Logistics Park is less than 1 mile from U.S. Route 67, with downtown Midlothian and Dallas being 7 and 29 miles northeast, respectively. The 45-acre property is serviced by BNSF Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad.
The facility is also some 32 miles from Logistics Property Co.’s Southport Logistics Park, a 252-acre industrial campus in Wilmer, Texas. Last year, Nike inked a 1-million-square-foot lease, occupying the campus’ entire Building Three.
CBRE Executive Vice Presidents Kacy Jones, Stephen Koldyke and Brian Gilchrist assisted Logistics Property Co. Vice Presidents J.C. Hay and Max Mueller in the lease proceedings. Cresa Managing Principal Jim Hazard, together with Principal Barrett Bufkin, represented the tenant.
Metroplex’s industrial vacancy and advertised rates
The Metroplex’s industrial vacancy rate stood at 3.9 percent in April, below the national average of 5.2 percent, according to a recent CommercialEdge report. A few metros fared better, such as Columbus, Ohio (2.7 percent), Kansas City, Mo. (3 percent), and Nashville, Tenn. (3.6 percent), to name a few.
Year-over-year through April, the advertised industrial rates grew by 6.7 percent in Dallas-Fort Worth, lagging 70 basis points behind the national average increase of 7.4 percent during the same interval, the report goes on to show.