DES MOINES, IA—Everyone who follows the US industrial market knows it has been setting records for absorption and new construction. But what they might not know is that the robust demand is firing up the markets in smaller secondary cities as well as the big distribution regions. The Opus Group has recently launched several class A industrial facilities in Des Moines, for example, and has quickly found tenants to occupy the spaces.

This week the Minneapolis-based developer leased the majority of the space at its first building at the new Corporate Woods Industrial Park in Ankeny, IA, a Des Moines suburb. Columbus-based Power Distributors will lease nearly 70% of the 208,000-square-foot speculative industrial warehouse.

“Des Moines is very well positioned from a distribution perspective,” Jason Conway, director, real estate development, Opus Development Co., LLC, tells GlobeSt.com. Situated on 52 acres of land, immediately adjacent to I-35 and just one mile north of I-80, trucks leaving the industrial park can quickly reach vast stretches of the US.

Furthermore, this region does not have a lot of institutional-grade product, and the vacancy rate has been remarkably low. “In the last year or so, it's been in the low twos,” Conway adds, but “not many national developers are active there.”

Building construction began in May 2015 and was completed in February 2016. The facility boasts 32' clear heights, ESFR sprinkler systems and up to 50 dock doors and 114 parking spaces. Power Distributors will use the building as a velocity distribution center to house and distribute parts and products to customers across the Midwest.

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As reported in GlobeSt.com, earlier this year Opus also successfully leased up its Gateway Industrial Center, a new speculative industrial warehouse and office facility in Grimes, another Des Moines suburb. The firm began developing that 182,000 square foot facility just last year.

The 52-acre industrial park in Ankeny still has 32 acres of undeveloped land. And Opus plans to construct perhaps another two buildings of about 200,000 square feet each, or a larger build-to-suit.

“Des Moines has been good to us,” Conway says.

The 52-acre industrial park in Ankeny still has 32 acres of undeveloped land. And Opus plans to construct perhaps another two buildings of about 200,000 square feet each, or a larger build-to-suit.

“Des Moines has been good to us,” Conway says.

Instant Insights /

Des Moines Building Rep as a Distribution Hub

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