Companies such as International Marble & Granite Inc. and Qzina Specialty Foods Inc. already have negotiated terms prior to the certificate of occupancy in the development's first building for space leasing around $5. per sf triple net, with operating costs estimated at $1.65 per sf to $1.75 per sf.

Such demand is giving officials at Premier all the confidence they needed to move forward on immediate plans to build four more spec warehouse buildings in a master-planned industrial park capable of sustaining up to 1.3 million sf of leaseable space."Actually, the market, from our perspective, has not slowed down at all," Peter D. Sheridan, Premier president, tells GlobeSt.com. When completed in September, two of the four proposed buildings each will contain about 138,500 sf of leaseable space.

"We should have the foundation permits in the next week or so for buildings two and three," Sheridan says. "We're also going into architectural review for buildings six and seven. Each of those is 225,000 sf."

Building No. 1 contains some of the critical elements many distribution companies are seeking in an industrial property such as ceiling height. The 148,000-sf building has a 24-foot clearance, 200 feet of depth, and dock-height loading platforms in the rear, with some ramps. Buildings three and four will have 32-foot ceiling clearance.

"Already we are seeing activity on buildings two and three, even though we're just beginning construction," Sheridan says. "We have proposals out on 150,000 sf." That is an encouraging sign for a Pompano Beach-based company that owns or operates about 2.7 million sf of office-industrial properties in South Florida--about 2.2 million sf of that is in Pompano Beach.

When built out, Sheridan estimates the company will have easily invested $75 million in total development costs at Atlantic Business Center.

"Location is the critical factor here, along with visibility, access and the nature of the park," Sheridan says. "It's a master-planned business park. It brings together the consistency of the roadways, signage and landscaping. There's also the fact it's all under one management. There are efficiencies associated with a park this size that you won't see in independently owned buildings of this size."

Instant Insights /

Success at Atlantic Business Center Fuels More Spec Building Growth

Related Stories

Recommended For You