Avera Breaks Ground on Cedar Port Logistics; 15 Acres Under Roof in Massive Industrial Park

HOUSTON – (By Kyle Hagerty for Realty News Report) – One of Houston’s hottest industrial submarkets is getting hotter with Avera breaking ground on a 643,951-SF rail-served building at Cedar Port Logistics near the Port of Houston. The 40.8-acre project is the latest to join the Baytown industrial park, the largest master-planned rail-and-barge-served industrial park in the United States.

Situated just off Houston’s expansive Grand Parkway southeast of downtown, Cedar Port Logistics offers access to FM 1405, SH 225, SH 146, and Interstate 10. With access to barges from the ship channel and dual rail service from Union Pacific and BNSF, several major players already call the 15,000-acre park home. Major retailers Walmart, IKEA and Home Depot have made commitments to TGS Cedar Port Park, occupying over 4.75 million SF between three buildings. Most recently, Avera completed a Cedar Port build-to-suit totaling over 500,006 SF for Vinmar International. The Vinmar site features 10,000 linear feet of rail.

“Cedar Port Logistics creates a unique opportunity for users to operate in a prime location within one of the preeminent industrial parks in America, particularly valuable at a time when suitable industrial land sites in desirable areas have continued to become increasingly scarce,” said Trey Odom, President and CEO of The Avera Companies.

Cedar Port Logistics is developed by a partnership of Avera and AEW Capital Management.

Much of Houston’s current industrial demand is coming from an influx of distributors like those utilizing Cedar Port’s easy access to cargo terminals and rail. Several of the metro’s largest leases signed over the past two years have been in logistics facilities relying on the Port of Houston.

Together the influx of demand means the southeast submarket near the port is by far the hottest for new industrial development. More than 5 million SF delivered over the past 12 months, and more than 5.2 million SF is under construction, nearly double the next submarket for both measures. As a result of the demand for space near the port, rents have increased 21% since 2012, according to HFF.

“A big box retailer importing goods absolutely wants to be near the port. They reason they like Houston is our population is expanding. With our population growth we’re seeing a lot bigger deals, especially near the port,” NAI Partners Industrial Broker Joel Michael said. Michael, along with NAI Partners, was selected to market Cedar Port in 2015.

Trans-Global Solutions purchased the Cedar Port property in 2014. Since, over $42 million of infrastructure improvements have been implemented through the park that is nearly as large as Manhattan. The park is notable for having a 200-acre Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) with another 200-acre FTZ currently being created, offering further utility to operations with global supply chains.

While things are moving ahead at an increasing pace, there’s still plenty of work to be done. Roughly 11,000 acres of the industrial park remain to be developed. With Houston’s population growth showing no signs of stopping and the Port of Houston posting record numbers as it pursues further expansion, Houston’s southeast submarket will likely remain one of Houston’s hottest sectors across all assets classes.

June 5, 2019 Realty News Report Copyright 2019