McDonald has delivered Buildings 100 and 200 at Forsyth Commerce Center, marking the completion of Phase One of the park.
The two rear-load industrial buildings total 359,202 square feet and bring to the market sought after Class A space in the highly amenitized Forsyth County / GA400 corridor.
Construction of three additional buildings is scheduled to begin in 2024 bringing the park to a total of 880,000+ square feet of Class A industrial space.
A large industrial park underway in northern Mecklenburg County plans to begin delivering in the coming months.
Atlanta-based McDonald Development Co. is under construction on North Chase at the Park, a multi-building industrial park in Huntersville. The developer expects to deliver the first three buildings at the park, which will include several phases, in the late first quarter or early second quarter. The first three buildings at Patterson and Hambright roads total just over 450,000 square feet.
The first phase of North Chase at the Park includes buildings of 245,134, 116,072 and 89,065 square feet, respectively, that can accommodate multiple tenants. The developer is looking to capture demand for small and medium-sized industrial space in the region.
Tracy White, senior vice president of development for McDonald Development, said his team was attracted to the Huntersville market and the site’s interstate proximity. The park is about 2 miles from the interchange for interstates 77 and 485.
McDonald Development, especially active in its home state of Georgia, also has projects in Virginia, Florida and South Carolina. The developer is now looking to make a splash in the Charlotte region.
“The tenant mix and user mix in Huntersville, especially just outside of I-485 was ripe for the picking,” White said.
McDonald Development has plans for four more buildings at North Chase at the Park. According to a site plan provided by the developer, those buildings will range between 135,212 and 291,200 square feet. Development will begin on the next phase after the first buildings lease up.
Cushman & Wakefield’s Fermin Deoca, Eric Ridlehoover and Matt Treble are leading leasing efforts at North Chase at the Park. Duffey Southeast Construction is the general contractor for the project, and Harley Commercial Architecture is the architect. Bohler Engineering is the civil engineer, while Pedulla Excavating and Paving is handling site work.
“We’re trying to meet the needs of the market,” Deoca said. “I think the market is telling us that we need more of this type of product in this area because that is where the population is moving. We need service companies to be able to accommodate the employee base there.”
December 15, 2022
MSI to Establish East Coast Distribution Facility in Virginia
RICHMOND, VA – Governor Glenn Youngkin today announced that M S International, Inc. (MSI), the leading supplier of flooring, countertops, wall tile, and hardscaping products in North America, will invest $61.6 million to establish its East Coast distribution facility in the City of Suffolk. McDonald Development will construct a new 548,000-square-foot building at 2821 Holland Road for the company. Virginia successfully competed with Georgia, New Jersey, and South Carolina for the project, which will create 80 new jobs.
“Virginia is one of North America’s premier supply chain destinations, and we are excited to welcome M S International’s East Coast Distribution facility to the Commonwealth,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin.“MSI will benefit from Suffolk’s prime location and proximity to our world-class port facilities, and we look forward to their success in the Hampton Roads region.”
“When a global company like M S International chooses Virginia for a major distribution operation to reach critical markets, it reinforces our strategic location and logistics infrastructure that is second-to-none,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Caren Merrick. “The Commonwealth offers companies a single gateway into critical customer markets, and MSI will complement Suffolk’s impressive roster of supply chain management companies.”
“MSI is very excited with this huge expansion of our distribution footprint in Virginia. This new hub distribution center will dramatically improve our long-term distribution capabilities across the Mid-Atlantic and Mid-West,” said Rup Shah, President of M S International, Inc. “In addition, we are very impressed with The Port of Virginia and its continued investments to insure a smooth flow of goods. Finally, both the high-quality workforce in the region combined with a very business-friendly environment were both major contributing factors to our decision.”
“On behalf of the City of Suffolk, we are pleased to share in the announcement that M S International, Inc. is expanding their distribution capabilities in our city,” said City of Suffolk Mayor Michael Duman. “Suffolk welcomes and appreciates the $61.6 million investment in this 500,000-square-foot building. The expansion will create 80 new jobs and add to our growing tax base.”
“We applaud M S International’s decision to build its East Coast distribution center in Suffolk, Virginia and capitalize on the access to global markets offered by The Port of Virginia,” said Stephen A. Edwards, CEO and Executive Director of the Virginia Port Authority. “MSI is going to be a significant importer and the investments we’re making in our terminals will help to ensure that MSI can grow its volumes without concern. We welcome MSI and are looking forward to a long partnership.”
“I am thrilled and excited that MSI is establishing a huge distribution center in the City of Suffolk. As the Senator representing this district, I am very pleased with the capital investment and the 80 new jobs that will be coming to Suffolk! I am certain that MSI will be very pleased with the pro-business culture of the city and will find the area to be warm and welcoming to both MSI and its employees,” said Senator John Cosgrove. “Special appreciation goes out to Governor Glenn Youngkin and his economic development team for successfully competing with three other states to win the MSI project. I know that the Governor is laser focused on bringing new and high-quality businesses to the Commonwealth of Virginia, and this is a prime example of his success.”
“M S International, Inc. is a great fit for the City of Suffolk,” said Delegate Clinton Jenkins. “Suffolk’s Holland Road Industrial Parkway has the capacity to accommodate the 500,000-square-foot building needed for a distribution facility. Economic development and the creation of 80 new jobs are an added value to the Suffolk community. Special thanks to MSI for choosing to be a member of the Suffolk family.”
Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Orange, California, MSI maintains over 40 state-of-the-art showrooms and distribution centers across the U.S. and Canada, with domestic manufacturing facilities for Q™ Premium Natural Quartz in Latta, South Carolina and Premium LVT in Cartersville, Georgia. MSI’s product assortment includes an extensive offering of quartz, LVT, tile, natural stone, and glass products imported from over 37 countries on six continents.
The company imports over 70,000 containers per year and manages an inventory of more than 300 million square feet, including hundreds of thousands of slabs of natural stone and quartz. MSI has over 3,000 employees worldwide, including more than 60 in Virginia.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the City of Suffolk to secure the project for Virginia. Governor Youngkin approved a $225,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist the City of Suffolk with the project. The company is also eligible to receive benefits from the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone Grant Program. Funding and services to support the company’s employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.
Contacts:
Suzanne Clark Macaulay Porter Jessica Davis
804.545.5806 Office of the Governor M S International, Inc.
sclark@vedp.org Macaulay.Porter@governor.virginia.gov Jessica.d@msisurfaces.com
Five months after its acquisition with a major industrial REIT, Ares Management Corp. has shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars for part of McDonald Development’s Southeast industrial portfolio.
McDonald sold 14 buildings across five industrial parks it developed for $395.5M, Cushman & Wakefield announced Tuesday. C&W Vice Chairman Stewart Calhoun and Senior Director Casey Masters brokered the sale for McDonald.
Sources familiar with the transaction told Bisnow a fund managed by Ares, which acquired Black Creek
Group’s U.S. business, including its $11.6B in assets, in July, was the buyer of the 2.7M SF portfolio.
Roughly 1.8M SF of the properties acquired are within 15 miles of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport: 1.1M SF across five buildings at WestLake industrial park, two buildings totaling 490K SF in the Southpark industrial park and a 210K SF in Southmeadow industrial park, according to the release.
Ares also acquired 310K SF in four flex buildings at Windward Ridge in the affluent North Fulton County area of Metro Atlanta and two buildings totaling more than 500K SF at Georgia Commerce Center, adjacent to the Port of Savannah.
During Bisnow’s Southeast industrial event on Dec. 15, McDonald President Austin McDonald said his firm was in the process of selling its portfolio, which was an average of 12 years old and 95% leased. McDonald also said the portfolio would sell at a 3.45% capitalization rate.
McDonald told Bisnow Tuesday that the firm sold the portfolio given that values for industrial buildings are “at all-time highs.” But the firm is ramping up its development pipeline again, with the potential for 4M SF of new projects, some of which could rise in the same industrial parks next to the buildings it just sold.
“We didn’t sell any of our existing land,” McDonald said.
Jarred Schenke, Bisnow Atlanta
Tampa, FL – Development of buildings 100, 200, and 300 of 301 Business Center mark the completion of Phase I of the park. The Class A buildings total 658,788 square feet and feature one rear-load, one front-load, and one cross-dock distribution building. Over 340,000 sf has already been leased. Construction of Phase II, a 208,000 square foot rear-load building, should begin around the 2nd quarter of 2020. Once completed, the 68.84-acre park will total 866,878 square feet of warehouse/distribution space
Clermont, Florida – Clermont Business Center has been delivered and is ready for occupancy. The park is located on Trade Avenue at Hancock Road, just south of SR50, with convenient access to Florida’s Turnpike. The park contains two front-load, class A, warehouse/distribution buildings totaling 107,566 square feet. Building 100 is 63,083 square feet and features 20 dock doors, 2 drive-in doors, and 26’ clear ceiling height. Goodman Distribution preleased 41,202 square feet in Building 100. Building 200 is 44,483 square feet and features 14 dock doors, 2 drive-in doors, and 24’ clear ceiling height.
Construction has officially begun on what will be Upstate South Carolina’s newest 42-acre distribution park – Carolina Commerce Center. McDonald Development Company is developing the park, which will feature two Class-A, rear-load distribution warehouses totaling 458,754 square feet. Building One will have 327,139 square feet, 32’ clear ceiling height, (32) 9’x10’ dock high doors, (38) 9’x10’ knock out doors, and (2) ramped doors. Building Two will have 131,615 square feet, 32’ clear ceiling height, (15) 9’x10’ dock high doors, (15) 9’x10’ knock out doors, and (2) ramped doors. The current completion date is set for early 2020.
McDonald Development sells recently built spec industrial building in Lee Vista
Atlanta-based McDonald Development continues to sell off portions of its master-planned business park underway in the Southeast Orlando submarket.
The latest, a 159,884-square-foot warehouse facility at 7455 Emerald Dunes Dr., just sold for $15.5 million to Los Angeles-based real estate investment trust Colony Capital – the same firm that reputably sold 474 acres near Universal Boulevard in 2015 for $130 million.
McDonald completed the warehouse this last August. The deal for the facility breaks down to about $97 per square foot. A tenant has yet to be signed on.
The warehouse, dubbed Building G, is the fourth to be completed within McDonald’s Lee Vista Business Center, a roughly 81 acre commercial park directly across from the Orlando International Airport.
Tom McFadden and William Bradford of Lee & Associates had the listing.
Once complete, the master-planned park will consist of two single-story office buildings and five rear-load distribution buildings, for a total of 925,000 square feet of commercial space.
Colony Capital, a known investor in the park, paid $47.9 million for buildings D, E and F at Lee Vista in 2016, bringing its total investment to more than $63.4 million.
The recent deal expands the REIT’s holdings in the park to roughly 639,000 square feet. According to its website, Colony Capital has $43 billion assets under management.
Tenants in the park include Zenith Lighting Inc., a stage lighting equipment supplier; LiveTV, a provider of airline in-flight entertainment systems; and German engineering and manufacturing giant, Siemens Corporation. Goodman Manufacturing and Carrier Enterprise are also tenants.
It’s unclear how much in total the seller has invested in acquiring the land where it intends to build out Lee Vista Business Center.
What is clear is that McDonald paid $1.7 million in 2016 for the lot where it built the most recent warehouse to sell. The firm bought the 11-acre parcel from Famlee Investment Co., as part of a long-standing agreement to buy and develop its property in Lee Vista over time.
The industrial property lies near a number of distribution facilities where certain well-known tenants operate.
Just south of the property is where Publix Super Markets built its $188.5 million distribution center for frozen food and produce in 2014.
Other companies with a presence in the submarket include Chrysler, Goya, Caterpillar, Lockheed Martin and Staples.
Last month, GrowthSpotter reported that a industrial property across from the site traded hands at a nearly 40 percent gain in less than four months from its previous selling price in late December.
That site will be home to TransPremier, a family-owned road construction subcontractor in Florida whose services include material hauling, asphalt milling, full road clean-up, and equipment mobilizations.
Tampa, FL – April 5, 2019 – Construction has wrapped up on 301 Business Center’s first new building – Building 300, a 341,890 SF cross-dock. Building 300 was pre-leased by Bunzl Distribution Southeast, LLC for 212,945 square feet for a 10 year term.
Building 300 is the first building in Phase I of the park to be completed. Additional Phase I buildings scheduled for delivery this summer include Building 100, a 145,540 SF rear-load, and Building 200, a 171,448 SF front-load.
Phase II of the park will include construction of Building 400, a planned 206,400 SF rear-load.
McDonald Development plans to build a total of 230,117 square feet of industrial space on a roughly 20-acre site near Sand Lake Road and Winegard Road. [Courtesy St. Johns Water Management District]
An Atlanta-based developer is looking to build a pair of spec industrial buildings near the Florida Mall, as the industrial sector continues to heat up in Central Florida.
McDonald Development plans to build a total of 230,117 square feet of industrial space on a roughly 20-acre site near Sand Lake Road and Winegard Road, according to plans filed with the state. The developer also wants to build another roughly 1-acre outparcel at the site.
The project, called Sandlake Commerce Center, has an estimated cost of $17.2 million, according to industry standards. Construction is expected to begin this fall with delivery in summer 2019.
McDonald has been in the Orlando market for 20 years, developing over 2 million square feet, said Austin McDonald, President and COO with McDonald Development. “This site was acquired two years ago with the plan to develop it once entitled and permitted. Market leasing activity is strong and the property is ideally situated in the South Orlando industrial market.”
Co-Presidents Bo Bradford and Tom McFadden with Lee & Associates of Central Florida are handling the leasing of the space. McFadden said in an email that no leases have been signed but they are “very active” with prospects.
McDonald Development’s Mcdonald Ventures Xxxv LLC bought the property in October 2015 for $2.9 million, according to Orange County property records.
Rising rental rates and increasing demand are spurring spec industrial construction in Central Florida, local brokers told Orlando Business Journal. Developers may be more keen to pursue new industrial projects now than delay into the future as construction costs soar, said Trevor Hall Jr. of Colliers International Central Florida.
In addition, Sandlake Commerce Center’s central location near Interstate 4, State Road 417 and Orlando International Airport is also a key factor in its development. “You can look in three directions and see good leasing activity,” Hall said. “It’s a regionally significant location.”
David Perez, a senior director with Cushman & Wakefield (NYSE: CWK) in Orlando, said demand for industrial space is so intense in Central Florida that his office is fielding weekly inquiries from industrial developers looking to enter the market. And it’s not just calls from local developers. Perez said the national perception of Central Florida is changing as the region sees growth in population and jobs.
David Perez, Cushman & Wakefield Industrial Brokerage Services Director
“It’s no longer seen as inferior to South Florida,” Perez said. “We’re starting to get to a point where it’s teetering on the edge of a primary market.”
Orlando’s industrial vacancy fell to 4.8 percent from 5.6 percent year over year, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Rental rates also rose to $6.60 from $6.29 in that period.
