LEWISBERRY, PA-One tenant has inked a 10-year lease for 412,500 sf, or more than half of the newly constructed 800,000-sf distribution/warehouse facility just completed by Malvern-based Liberty Property Trust. The tenant, which asked not to be identified pending notification of its employees, will move in this May.

The building is located at 600 Industrial Dr. in the Fairview Business Center and was constructed on spec. Troy Briggs, Liberty's director of leasing and development for the Lehigh Valley/Harrisburg region, declined to disclose the value of the lease. He tells GlobeSt.com the asking rental rate for the remaining 387,500 sf is $4.25 per sf triple net, and lease negotiations are under way.

With completion of an 837,540-sf distribution center, which GlobeSt.com reported has broken ground at the Chambers-5 Business Park in Chambersburg, Liberty's Harrisburg-area portfolio alone will aggregate nearly three million sf. The REIT currently owns and manages approximately 15 million sf of office, distribution and flex space in the Lehigh Valley.

In confirmation of the heightened demand for space in Central Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley, Bob Kiel, SVP and regional director in Liberty's Harrisburg office, reports that his company inked 18 lease transactions for a total of more than 800,000 sf in these two portfolios during the first two months of this year. They include four new tenants and 14 renewals.