San Francisco-based Catellus will act as developer. Portland-based Perlo McCormack Pacific will be the general contractor and Portland-based Group Mackenzie the architect. Under the agreement, Staples will acquire the land and the building when the project is complete this fall.

The initial 200,000-sf building has a total project cost of $15 million, which includes the cost of the land. Recent land sales at Southshore have been for between $4.50 and $5.50 per sf, which would put the cost of the land alone in the $4-million range. Catellus acquired the raw land for the corporate park in 1998 for $1.50 per sf.

Tom Talbot, the local Grubb & Ellis broker who represents Catellus at Southshore, says 80% of the park has now been developed with 1.2 million sf of buildings. That leaves about 45 acres still to be developed at Southshore--25 acres in Gresham and 20 acres in Portland--which Talbot says could hold another 700,000 sf.

With few big fish in the pond these days, local brokers tell GlobeSt.com there was serious competition for Staples, which had examined locations from Centralia, Wash. to Salem, Ore. over the past three years as it sought the best location for its regional warehouse and distribution operation. The new building will consolidate two other regional Staples distribution operations, including that of its Quill Corp. subsidiary located at 15323 NE Airport Way in Portland.

"I think at the end of the day Catellus didn't have the cheapest land but it did have the willingness and commitment to provide the right building in the right location on the right timeline," Talbot tells GlobeSt.com. When the building is completed, Staples will become the second largest tenant at Southshore behind Bridgestone/Firestone, the park's inaugural tenant, which occupies 295,000 sf.

Other tenants include Alexander's Moving & Storage (110,000 square feet), EJ Bartells (110,000 square feet), Synetics Solutions (155,000 square feet), Spicers Paper (90,000 square feet), Harry's Fresh Foods (80,000 square feet), Frito Lay (80,000 square feet), Innovion (45,000 square feet), Danner Shoe (55,000 square feet) and Kinco International (58,500).

Scott MacLean of Portland-based Norris Beggs & Simpson represented Staples with David Ginther of Dallas-based Fischer & Co. Talbot and partner Steve Barragar represented Catellus.

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Staples Inks 200,000-SF Build-to-Suit Deal with Catellus

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