Panattoni Leases a Half-Million-Square-Foot Spec Building in Mississippi

Friday, October 9th 2015

MEMPHIS, TN – Panattoni Development Co. and WCA Land and Development have fully leased the 554,000-square-foot Spec Building II of the 1,500-acre Gateway Global Logistics Center in Byhalia, Mississippi.

Jim Mercer, executive vice president of CB Richard Ellis Memphis, who specializes in industrial leasing and is representing Panattoni and WCA, said he could not speak to the identity of the tenant, but he said the company has leased the entire 554,000 spec building for consolidated distribution operations.

“The tenant is consolidating several locations into Building II,” he said.

Mercer said the unidentified company is planning an unspecified expansion of the building as well, to accommodate the distribution operations of its consolidated facilities. Building II is expandable up to 975,000 square feet.

Panattoni delivered Building II in May, and with it now leased, has started construction on its 554,000-square-foot Spec Building III.
Spec Building III is a mirror of Building II, located across Wingo Road from Volvo Group’s 1-million-square-foot Central Distribution Center, delivered in December 2014.

Building III is expandable up to 1.73 million square feet. Panattoni anticipates the delivery of Building III in March 2016.

Mercer said with the first leg of the I-269 corridor opening in the coming weeks, the connectivity to Tennessee State Route 385 and the corridor’s continuation to I-55 by 2018, the Gateway Global Logistics Center is conducive to distribution.

The Mississippi Department of Transportation is also anticipated to take bids for the widening of U.S. 72 from Collierville to Corinth in January 2016, Mercer said. The widening project is anticipated to have a year-plus to completion.

“When [U.S. 72] hits the Mississippi state line, it drops from four lanes to two,” he said.

When construction concludes, the Gateway Global Logistics Center will be a 1,500-acre industrial park located off of a major four-lane highway with a recently completed interstate connection just two miles down the road, Mercer said.

Mercer said he is in regular negotiations with prospective tenants who are interested in Spec Building III as well as available acreage to build future operations.

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2015/10/09/panattoni-leases-ahalf-million-square-foot-spec.html