Austin American-Statesman writes, "amid ongoing demand for industrial space in Central Texas, a project near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport landed $18 million in financing.
MDH Partners, an Atlanta-based real estate investment company, closed on $17.8 million in financing from Regions Bank for the project, called 71 Logistics Center.
The industrial building, which will have 216,000 square feet of space, broke ground in August on 45 acres near the airport.
The building is at Texas 71 and Norwood Lane, 6 miles southeast of the airport, in the five-county Austin region that is home to more than 2.2 million people.
Once completed in the second quarter of next year, 71 Logistics Center will increase MDH Partners’ Texas footprint to more than 3.7 million square feet of space. Tenant prospects have not yet been announced.
The total cost of the project is $33.9 million, including the Regions Bank loan. The rest of the funding is from MDH's Fund II.
“We’re excited to add the 71 Logistics Center development to our existing Texas portfolio," said Matt Gregory, senior vice president at MDH Partners. "This project is designed to accommodate a wide variety of tenants, providing users excellent proximity to the Austin metro as well as abundant trailer and auto parking."
Once complete, the new industrial building will have 142 parking spaces and 54 trailer parking spaces, among other features.
The industrial sector is one of the Austin region's hottest real estate markets. Tesla is leasing three new warehouses with almost 1 million square feet of industrial space in Kyle, south of Austin, and Greystar Real Estate Partners is launching the second phase of its industrial project called Whisper 35 in San Marcos, expanding its logistics presence in Central Texas.
In June, MDH Partners acquired South Belt Central, a 603,389-square-foot industrial building in Houston. The firm has remained active this year, acquiring nearly 5 million square feet of industrial assets throughout the U.S. since January. MDH Partners recently expanded its portfolio into new markets including California, Minnesota, Maryland, Indiana, Illinois and Pennsylvania, and it currently owns more than 110 assets across 20 states.
According to JLL, a commercial real estate services firm, tenant demand has been driven largely by the automobile manufacturing and semiconductor industries.
Tenants leased 5.9 million square feet of industrial space in the first half of 2023 in the Austin area, leaving only 5.1% of the metro’s supply of industrial space vacant. In addition to Austin’s strong economy and population growth, Tesla and Samsung continue to drive demand as suppliers locate near those companies' new facilities, JLL said in its latest Austin industrial market report.
"Industrial projects continued to break ground in Austin with nearly 2 million square feet breaking ground across 18 projects in (the third quarter) despite a challenging interest rate environment," JLL's report said. "Buildings under construction totaled 17.7 million square feet with more than a quarter belonging to Tesla’s projects near its gigafactory and Samsung’s semiconductor site in Taylor.""
Source: Austin American-Statesman
Written by: Shonda Novak
Published: October 26, 2023
Posted by Grossman & Jones Group on
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