First Industrial then demolished 150,000 sf of the existingbuilding and created a 213,544-sf facility that features 55dock-high loading positions, 20-foot minimum interior clearance and5.7 acres of additional land for container storage, plus two UnionPacific rail spurs. Immediately after the building was converted,DHL/Exel signed a five-year lease for the entire building. BothFirst Industrial and DHL/Exel were represented by David Bales,Frank Schulz and Todd Taugner of the Klabin firm.

DHL/Exel designs and implements innovative contract logisticssolutions for companies in a wide range of industries, according toits web site. The new First Industrial tenant will employapproximately 100 workers at the site.

Taugner points out that the Klabin Co. sold the building toFirst Industrial a year ago and suggested a redevelopment of theproperty focusing on a port-related logistics center "with atremendous amount of dock high loading, and a yard to store andstage trailers for transloading." The conversion was based on "themounting need for logistics facilities in the South Bay," Taugnersays.