ATLANTA-Dugan Realty LLC, a joint venture between Duke Realty Corp. of Indianapolis and JP Morgan of New York, plans to break ground in December on a 192,600-sf build-to-suit warehouse and distribution center for Genera Corp. The La Palma, CA-based company is a wholesaler of imported auto replacement parts. Completion of the project within the 123-million-sf Horizon Park, Gwinnett County, is scheduled for July 2006.

A Duke representative declined to disclose the estimated development cost of the project. However, area construction sources tell GlobeSt.com the center will probably be built at a hard construction cost of about $40 per sf or a total $8 million.

Genera currently leases 85,000 sf at the 410 Horizon building. Duke Construction is the construction manager for Dugan Realty. The fast-track, seven-month construction strategy will utilize tilt-up panel and glass construction; and feature a 34-foot clear height ceiling, 20 dock doors and one drive-in door, high-tech environmental systems and surface parking.

The project will be built on 10.2 acres which will leave about 23 acres for future development, says Sam O'Briant, Duke's senior vice president in the company's Atlanta industrial division. "Genera initially considered a smaller building, but the company's growth projections dictated that a larger building would be more economical," O'Briant says. Another factor was Duke's experience in developing a similar-sized building for Genera in metro Chicago.

Horizon Park has developed about 123 million sf in the Interstate 85-Northeast submarket, metro Atlanta's largest industrial and distribution corridor.