Lakeland Logistics Center to Deliver 490,000-SF Distribution Campus
LAKELAND, FLORIDA – June 5, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Cushman & Wakefield announced today that the brokerage team of Director Julia Rettig, Director Jeff Lamm, Associate Director Jared Bonshire, Senior Associate David Perez, and Executive Director Mike Davis has been selected by a joint venture of Ridge Development and AEW Capital Management to market the 490,000-square-foot Lakeland Logistics Center in Lakeland, Florida.
Lakeland Logistics Center, Polk County’s first speculative cross-dock project of this development cycle, is currently slated for two 245,000-square-foot buildings. The first building is expected to deliver in the fourth quarter of this year. The second building will follow as a build-to-suit opportunity when the first building reaches 50 percent leased. The site also features six acres of land which may be utilized as additional car parking or trailer storage.
“This facility is unique in Lakeland,” said Rettig. “The cross-dock design is unlike anything else being developed in the market at this time and offers more flexibility than rear load facilities.”
Lakeland Logistics Center is located at 2011 Memorial Boulevard, less than two miles from Exit 28 on Interstate 4. In August of 2014, e-commerce giant Amazon opened a one million square-foot distribution center less than seven miles west of Lakeland Logistics Center. This event piqued the interest of developers far and wide and bolstered the viability of Lakeland as a regional distribution point.
“Traditionally, only local developers were building on spec in Lakeland,” explained Rettig. “Now, as a result of Amazon’s entry into the market, Lakeland is drawing national attention and is positioned to capitalize on the e-commerce trend.”
“Lakeland is one of the hottest markets in the country,” added Rettig. “Vacancy is among the lowest in the nation and absorption is among the highest relative to the size of the existing market.”
Cushman & Wakefield’s research has documented the ascension of Lakeland’s industrial market.
“Overall vacancy rates in Lakeland are the lowest in the major industrial markets of Florida,” wrote Senior Research Analyst Stephen Keith in the 1Q 2015 Lakeland Industrial Marketbeat Report. “Vacancy fell by 0.4 percentage points in the first quarter. In square foot terms, the amount of available space on the market fell by over 108,368 square feet, down 10.1 percent since the last quarter.”
Lakeland Logistics Center is ideally located 32 miles from Tampa and 48 miles from Orlando. There are 8.8 million people living within a 100-mile radius of the facility. This central location amidst a large concentration of potential consumers is key to Lakeland’s perception as a burgeoning e-commerce distribution center.
“The growth of space in Lakeland is due to the market’s tight vacancy rate, competitive asking rates and close proximity to markets in Tampa and Orlando as well as the I–75 Corridor,” wrote Keith in the first quarter industrial report.
“With the area a magnet for logistics companies servicing markets throughout the Southeast, the industrial market in Lakeland has benefited from its strong position in the area’s distribution network,” added Keith. “Cushman & Wakefield forecasts continued growth throughout the next nine months of 2015.”
Cushman & Wakefield is bringing the full force of its Central Florida industrial brokerage group to bear in its efforts to effectively market the property. Rettig, Lamm, and Davis will be handling brokerage responsibilities from the firm’s Tampa office while Bonshire and Perez will be doing the same from the firm’s Orlando office.
This strong regional presence will be critical to the marketing process and one of the reasons Cushman & Wakefield was selected to manage the assignment.
“Lakeland Logistics Center is a ground-breaking opportunity in an emerging market,” said Steven Kros, Ridge Development’s Executive Vice President. “This listing will garner the attention of users from around the world. We feel Cushman & Wakefield, with its global platform and depth of local expertise, is the ideal team to market this property.”
Cushman & Wakefield
Cushman & Wakefield advises and represents clients on all aspects of property occupancy and investment. Founded in 1917, it has 259 offices in 60 countries, employing more than 16,000 professionals. It offers a complete range of services to its occupier and investor clients for all property types, including leasing, sales and acquisitions, equity, debt and structured finance, corporate finance and investment banking, appraisal, consulting, corporate services, and property, facilities, project and risk management.
Ridge Development
Ridge Development is the industrial development arm of Transwestern Development Company, a diversified firm with expertise in all commercial property types. Ridge Development specializes in industrial development and investment in state-of-the-art warehouse, distribution and manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and Mexico. Based in Chicago, the company serves North American clients from six U.S. offices and one office in Monterrey, Mexico. The Transwestern Development and Ridge Development teams have developed, constructed and managed more than 138 million square feet of industrial and distribution space.
AEW Capital Management
Founded in 1981, AEW Capital Management, L.P. (AEW) provides real estate investment management services to investors worldwide. One of the world’s leading real estate investment advisors, AEW and its affiliates manage over $47 billion of property and securities in North America, Europe and Asia (as of March 31, 2015). Grounded in research and experienced in the complexities of the real estate and capital markets, AEW actively manages portfolios in both the public and private property markets and across the risk/return spectrum. AEW and its affiliates have offices in Boston, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong, as well as additional offices in nine European cities.
Julia Silva Rettig
Director
(813) 204-5332
julia.rettig (at) cushwake (dot) com
Jeff Lamm
Director
(813) 204-5376
jeff.lamm (at) cushwake (dot) com
Jared Bonshire
Associate Director
(407) 541-4414
jared.bonshire (at) cushwake (dot) com
David Perez
Senior Associate
(407) 541-4435
david.perez (at) cushwake (dot) com
Mike Davis
Executive Director
(813) 223-6300
mike.davis (at) cushwake (dot) com
