ATLANTA—In a  programmatic venture with The Carlyle Group, Oakmont Industrial Group acquired a 35-acre land parcel in Atlanta's Interstate 85 South industrial submarket. The venture is constructing a 370,000-rentable-square-foot spec industrial building slated for delivery in early fall 2015.

Oakmont/85 South sits along Interstate 85 within one and a half miles of the nearest interchange and 5 miles from Interstate 285. That's close to metro Atlanta, the CSX intermodal facility, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and offers access to the region's major transportation arteries. Oakmont is targeting is ideal sophisticated logistics and e-commerce companies with the industrial project.

“This project represents our second spec development in Atlanta over the past six months, demonstrating our commitment to this rapidly improving market,” says

Steve Nelsen, Oakmont's executive vice president and principal. “We will deliver approximately 1 million square feet of industrial product in Atlanta in 2015.”

Oakmont/85 South will offer 36-foot clear height, cross-dock loading, full concrete truck courts, Ductilcrete floor slabs, and sustainable/LEED certification. The project includes a full-concrete flex lot at the rear of the building, which will allow for expanded trailer or auto parking, outside storage, or a “tri-dock” configuration.

Tom Cobb, Oakmont's senior vice president, says the Atlanta supply-demand dynamics are still favorable, with strong tenant activity and limited in-fill industrial speculative development. He says the company is well-positioned to capitalize on these market fundamentals with Oakmont/85 South.

“While features such as 36-foot clear height, full concrete truck courts with excess trailer storage capacity, site circulation, provisions for guard houses, and superior performance floor slabs are becoming more prevalent in the most recently delivered one million square foot industrial buildings,” he says, “I think you will be hard pressed to find this combination of function and upgrades in the 500,000 square foot and below size category, particularly for those in infill locations."

JLL's Steve Grable, Chris Tomasulo, and Stephen Bridges will handle the leasing assignment. The Atlanta-based design and construction team includes Randall-Paulson Architects and general contractor Conlan Company. Regions Bank is providing the construction financing.

“We believe the market timing is perfect, and Oakmont/85 South will be a successful project due to the in-fill nature of the location and high quality design features,” says Grable. “I have worked closely with Oakmont on major development projects in multiple markets over the years. In keeping with their investment strategy, Oakmont/85 South clearly sets the market standard for design and function.”

Chris Riley, vice chairman at CBRE, tells GlobeSt.com e-commerce opportunities are impacting the design of industrial facilities. Facilities are designed around the material handling system that the user is going to employ.

“It affects it from floor to ceiling—including building dimensions, column spacing, loading doors, clear span heights, electrical power, floor load, etc. The facility is customized around the receiving, storage, and shipping operation,” says Riley. “Also for e-commerce facilities, as a result of the increased employee load, above standard auto parking is a typical requirement.”