HOUSTON – The NAI Partners real estate firm is representing TGS Cedar Port Partners in the marketing of TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park, the largest master planned rail-served and barge-served industrial park in the U.S.
TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park is a 15,000-acre project on the east side of the Houston area. With utilities and industrial and commercial transportation infrastructure, the park has 11,079 acres of which is available for sale or lease.
Major improvements to rail and port infrastructure and roads are planned.
“TGS Cedar Port Partners are initiating a $22 million rail and site improvement expansion which will be completed by the end of 2015,” said James Scott, President of Construction & Maintenance for Trans-Global Solutions, a Texas-based firm.
Of the many scheduled improvements James says “the construction of two additional 9,000 foot interchange tracks on the north end of the property are key to facilitating more and better rail service for the industrial park. These tracks will open up over 4,000 additional acres of the industrial park for future rail served customers. The rail infrastructure upgrade project will also increase the carrying capacity of much of the existing railroad to 286,000 pound loaded railcars from 263,000 pound standard loads. These two tracks are currently under construction and will be completed in the 4th quarter of 2015. By adding the interchange tracks, we will increase rail capacity and eliminate future rail congestion as the park expands.”
TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park is located in West Chambers County in the near Baytown, Texas. The Scott family and Trans-Global Solutions with offices in Houston and Beaumont control the general partnership. The park has direct access to both the Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway and is served by the Chambers County Improvement District public barge dock on Cedar Bayou. The park is located across the Houston Ship Channel from the Barbours Cut and Bayport Port of Houston container terminals.
Texas Highway 99, also known as the Grand Parkway, runs through the park.
Chambers County Improvement District No.1 supports industrial development at TGS Cedar Port through public bond financing for roadways, water treatment plants, utility infrastructure, civil construction improvements and public barge dock development.
The newly named TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park, formerly known as Cedar Crossing Industrial Park, has embarked on a game changing capital improvement plan.
According to Will Scott, President of Operations & Leasing with Trans-Global Solutions, Inc., “TGS is a leading regional rail car and locomotive storage company, handling over 500,000 railcars per year in our customers’ plants as well as our own (TGS) storage yards. By adding 200 additional railcar storage spots by the end of the 2nd quarter 2015, and an additional 400 car spots planned to be completed by year end 2015, TGS Cedar Port Partners are demonstrating a commitment to better serve our present and future industrial park customers.”
James Scott adds, “a 150-acre mass-grading project with water detention to serve over 600 adjacent acres is also under construction and will be complete in the 2nd quarter of 2015. This project will be followed by a project to provide with rail service to the site and a heavy-haul road from FM 1405 straight to the barge dock. This project will be completed in the first half 2016. This project will allow additional heavy-haul access from FM 1405 to the barge dock.”
TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park’s multi-modal transportation opportunities which offer intermodal transportation flexibility for rail storage and manufacturing have attracted global companies including Walmart (4.2 million square foot import distribution facility), Borusan Mannesmann a steel pipe manufacturer, Home Depot, JSW Steel, Tapco Enpro, Century Asphalt and GE Water & Process Technologies.
Due to the new ownership’s capital commitments to expand the current rail and water infrastructure, TGS Cedar Port Industrial Park is already in discussions with several national industrial developers to build rail-served spec construction and crane-served spec construction within the park including the possibility of several future terminal developments now under discussion.
“Previously the park was comprised of a large tract of land with a separate rail lease and operator. The combined TGS Cedar Port entity will create the needed rail capacity to build out the remaining real estate,” said Will Scott. “This entire park is tied to logistics. Our job is to put the rail and roadway infrastructure in place so that all the real estate is ready for sale and development. Additionally, with the Panama Canal expansion and current land constraints within the Houston market, this prime location is ideally located to capture future rail, distribution and terminal expansion requirements in the region.”
“The expansions in plastics manufacturing and industrial chemicals created as the result of low U.S. natural gas prices are examples of commodity groups that TGS Cedar Port will serve with rail, barge, and warehouse logistics.” Will Scott states that, “chemical plant expansions have been publically announced for ExxonMobil in Baytown, Chevron Phillips at Cedar Bayou and in Sweeny, Dow Chemical in Freeport, Formosa Plastics in Point Comfort, and Lyondellbasell in La Porte.
John Ferruzzo, industrial partner with NAI Partners, the firm charged with marketing the park, states “This is a long-term “legacy” listing for our firm and we have NAI Global’s full support to market the park on a national and global level.”