4800 Langdon Rd.

DALLAS-The long-awaited start of the first industrial space in the 6,000-acre Dallas Logistics Hub is about to get under way. The spec buildings, totaling 827,850 sf, will be ready to light in April.

"On Monday, dirt will be flying," vows Daniel J. McAuliffe, president of Allen Development of Texas. He tells GlobeSt.com that the start was delayed by a couple months as the San Diego-based developer made some design and site changes and followed through on a policy for 25% of the project to be subcontracted to minority- and women-owned businesses. "It was a bidding process that took longer than normal," he says, explaining more news will be forthcoming in the coming weeks.

McAuliffe says the decision to shift the buildings' locations by 100 feet necessitated a slight redesign that also resulted in additional trailer spaces being factored into the plan and lower construction costs. The initial development, originally estimated to cost $35 million, will be situated on roughly 50 of the developer's 6,000 acres.

GSO Architects of Dallas designed the buildings and is the structural engineer. Kimley-Horn & Associates' Dallas team did the civil engineering for the development. In July, the Allen Group awarded DLH Building 1's construction pact to Mycon General Contractors Inc. of McKinney, TX and DLH Building 2 to 3i Construction LLC, a Dallas-based minority-owned firm, which also will provide additional construction services for the larger box.

McAuliffe says the industrial submarket, supported by one operating intermodal yard and another one on the drawing board, is living up to expectations. "In the last 60 days, quite a few large deals have identified where they want to go," he says. "There are one million sf of deals in South Dallas that have been completed or on the verge of being completed."

The Allen Group's flagship space for the multi-modal logistics park, envisioned as an international trade corridor, is being marketed at $3.35 per sf with a $3 per sf tenant-improvement allowance. At build-out, the park is projected to have 60 million sf of logistics, retail, office, hospitality, single-family and multifamily space plus direct or near-direct access to four freeways. It's taken the developer nearly four years to get the groundbreaking development to a ground-breaking stage.

McAuliffe says his team is locked in talks with one prospect for DLH Building 2 and chasing several deals for the cross-dock box. "The market's there. The users are out there," he reports. "But, you've got to build it before you see those users."