VanTrust Real Estate has signed a leading manufacturer to more than 100,000 square feet at Building A within the Cornerstone Commerce Center master-planned industrial development in northeast San Antonio.
CBRE arranged the transaction, with Joshua Aguilar, SIOR, representing the tenant and Rob Burlingame, senior vice president with the firm’s local industrial & logistics division, representing VanTrust.
VanTrust delivered two Class A buildings at Cornerstone Commerce Center in 2023. Located at 5442 Center Run Road, Building A features 51 dock doors, three drive-in doors and spec office space and includes 117,925 square feet remaining for lease. Building B, which features 40 dock doors and three drive-in doors, has 190,734 square feet available for lease.
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VanTrust purchased an additional 33 acres for the second phase of the project, which can accommodate as much as 400,000 square feet.
“The industrial market is currently undersized based on population, which gives it huge growth potential long-term,” Bill Baumgardner, executive vice president for VanTrust, told Commercial Property Executive. “Construction costs are also lower, which gives the market an economic advantage over its competitors.”
San Antonio benefits from its access to a diverse workforce and proximity to Interstate-35, Interstate-10 and Loop 410.
According to CBRE, the second quarter marked the 31st consecutive quarter of positive net demand for the San Antonio industrial market. More than 4.9 million square feet of industrial product were underway, and 26.2 percent of the total pipeline was preleased. No doubt, it’s a hot market.
A manufacturing powerhouse
As more companies explore bringing operations closer to home, there will be further opportunities to strengthen Texas’ position as a manufacturing powerhouse, driving more demand for industrial assets.
Texas already comprises more than 9 percent of the nation’s total manufacturing GDP. According to JLL research, the four major Texas markets (Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio) accounted for nearly 39 percent of U.S. net absorption in the first half of 2024.
For the first time in two decades, Mexico became the top trading partner of the U.S. in 2023, a title it has long held with Texas, whose relationship included $272.3 billion in total trade last year, according to JLL research.
The Texas border alone accounted for 66 percent of the total 2023 truck crossings from Mexico, with Laredo being a standout, facilitating 36 percent of all truck crossings from Mexico into the U.S.
Nearshoring has gained significant traction after the 2020 events exposed vulnerabilities in the global supply chain, prompting companies to rethink their business models. This operational shift offers many benefits, including shorter lead times, enhanced quality control and more efficient logistics processes.
Companies from various sectors, including advanced manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, electronics and consumer goods, have announced recent plans to relocate or expand operations in Texas. In response to this surge of new enterprises, Brownsville is underway on a state-of-the-art advanced manufacturing training facility.
Last month, VanTrust Real Estate sold Interstate West’s Building A, a 637,868-square-foot industrial facility in Ellabell, Ga., near Savannah. Goldrich Kest acquired the 2023-completed asset. JLL represented the seller.
The facility, which was fully leased by three tenants at the time of closing, is part of the 515-acre Interstate West. The industrial park currently comprises three completed buildings totaling roughly 2.8 million square feet, and an underway development expected to exceed 2 million square feet.