The Fort Lauderdale-based real estate development and investment company anticipates a construction-start date within the next six months on several new buildings in the 300-acre development site at the west side of Southwest 196 Avenue between Sheridan Street and Stirling Road near US Hwy. 27 and Interstate 75.

"We've had several large users who would have taken space in the park, if we had the buildings available," Philip G. Saia, Bergeron vice president and general manager, tells GlobeSt.com. "We can do a variety of uses up to limited heavy industrial. The advantage of that is zoning allows for outdoor storage of equipment and materials, whereas most light industrial parks don't allow that."

Unlike most industrial developments, the Bergeron Park also is qualified under federal regulations to operate a foreign trade zone.

"There are several industries that will benefit by operating in a foreign trade zone," Saia says. "Most companies involved in importing--chemicals, automobile parts, pharmaceuticals, electronics--use a lot of imported goods in their products. If they assemble here, they don't usually pay duty on the imported parts. But they do pay duty on the assembled parts, which is usually lower than the duty on the individual parts."

This is the first industrial park for a company controlled by Ronald M. Bergeron Sr., who has primarily focused on single-family residential projects prior to beginning work on the Bergeron Park of Commerce & Industry.

The company is now in the process of replatting about 135 acres at the development site formerly known as West Broward Industrial Park, with anticipated estimated impact fees totaling about $609,000, according to Broward County records.

Once that section is replatted, country records show the company is proposing development of about 87,300 sf of commercial-use space and 38,000 sf of office space. The replat would allow for a 12,500-sf fire station and a 24,000-sf US Postal Service building already built at the site.

Industrial use space within the park is expected to lease from $5.75 per sf to $6 per sf on triple-net contracts. "We're building a park that will accommodate any size tenant over 2,000 sf," Saia says. "If it's a larger user, it will be competitive rates."

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GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Bergeron Gears Up for Expansion

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