Though the Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway Co. maintains anintermodal facility on land at the Port of Houston, the $300million KCS/CenterPoint development would include not only a164-acre intermodal facility but also 636 acres for privatedevelopment of up to 7.5 million sf of warehouse and distributionspace. KCS acquired the property two years ago in conjunction withits $120 million reconstruction of the former SP Cottonbelt Linebetween the Texas towns of Rosenberg and Victoria. The rejuvenatedline will shorten the KCS route between the US and Mexico by some70 miles.

Rather than focusing on the Port of Houston, which lies on theopposite side of the congested metropolitan area, the project willrely primarily on KCS's direct link to Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico'slargest container port. The site is approximately three-fifths ofthe way between Lazaro Cardenas and the railroad's home in KansasCity, MO. CenterPoint CEO Michael Mullen tells GlobeSt.comexpanding trade with Mexico is a key factor in the project'sdevelopment. Projected tenants include companies importing goodsvia Lazaro Cardenas as an alternative to the increasingly congestedports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. With the rebuiltRosenberg-Victoria line, the distance between Houston and LazaroCardenas is about 200 miles shorter than between Houston and LosAngeles. Other tenants targeted are companies involved in theimport and export of goods between the US and Mexico that currentlydepend on trucks.

Construction has already begun on Phase I of the intermodalcenter, which entails installation of 3,500 feet of track, parkinglots and related facilities. Depending on demand, the centerultimately could have up to four 8,500-foot tracks with associatedfacilities. the company expects to begin construction on the firstbuildings in the industrial park in 2010. Mullen says CenterPointplans to build and own the structures on both a speculative andbuild-to-suit basis. He also says the company intends to hire andcontract locally for the majority of the project engineering,planning, construction and marketing work.