A confidential source tells GlobeSt.com that the Dearborn, MI-based vehicle manufacturer has signed a 10-year pact for Building A, a 644,000-sf distribution warehouse. The park is owned by Los Angeles-based investment program, CB Richard Ellis Strategic Partners LP, a fund that gains its sponsorship from $9.8-billion investment manager CB Richard Ellis Investors LLC.

Billy Gold and Brendan Lynch, both of the Houston office of CB Richard Ellis Inc., worked both sides of the deal along with James Dingeman of CBRE's Chicago office. The brokers were reticent to release any details, but Lynch confirmed the lease. "Alamo Crossing was designed to accommodate the next generation of logistic requirements by providing state-of-the-art distribution buildings and a strategic location with excellent access. It was for these reasons that Alamo Crossing was able to secure Ford Motor Co. for their latest parts distribution center," Lynch said.

There is no word yet as to how many new jobs will be created, but the project has safely taken the first step in bringing outside business into a hungry Houston industrial market. GlobeSt.com's source confides other lease announcements are imminent.

L.J. Melody loan originators in Houston and Chicago recently closed a $21-million variable-rate loan to CB Richard Ellis Strategic Partners with European lender ING Investment Management as a first mortgage on Alamo Crossing. The source says the park's development required $46 million to bring out four buildings totaling a little more than one million sf. The financing does not include costs for a fifth building of 300,000 sf that has been put on hold.

The source says the owner moved now to take advantage of the excellent financing environment. John Clifford and Dave Hendrickson, both in L.J. Melody's Chicago office, and Tom Fish in the Houston office arranged the financing.