Marjorie Palace, CRIC principal, tells GlobeSt.com that the facility will be built on Bayer's existing 280-acre campus in Baytown. The warehouse will take up about seven acres, according to Palace. CRIC has executed a ground lease with Bayer for the facility. Bay Park Industrial Properties, the developer, has started the site work. The structure will deliver in first quarter 2003.

According to Palace, the project will bring about two dozen new jobs by the end of the 2003 and another 44 by the end of 2006. As a result, Chambers County has signed off on a tax abatement.

Best known for Bayer Aspirin, Alka-Seltzer and One-A-Day Vitamins, Bayer produces various health-care, agricultural, polymer and chemical products. Bayer had $10.1 billion in sales in 2001 and employs about 21,500 people. The company is part of the $27-billion Bayer Group, headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany.

CRIC's agenda is to acquire more than $500 million of single-tenant properties in the US. Palace says Bayer was looking for alternative financing options for the facility and CRIC was looking for the right projects to meet its goals. She wouldn't go into detail, but did say CRIC is considering several other Texas opportunities. The capital group was formed Feb. 27 as a joint venture between Boston-based Corporate Realty Investment Co. LLC and Prudential Real Estate Investors.