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DES MOINES, IA—The nation's industrial market may have entered what some call a golden age, especially for developers that work in the top core markets, but smaller, secondary cities are also attracting a fair amount of activity. The Opus Group just unveiled plans for a 200,700-square-foot speculative industrial development in Ankeny, a suburb of Des Moines. This building marks the second phase of the master planned development at its Corporate Woods Industrial Park, a 50-acre site that already boasts a fully-leased 208,000 square foot industrial warehouse and additional space for a third facility of up to 200,000 square feet.

“Opus continues to see strong leasing velocity in the Des Moines market,” Jason Conway, director, real estate development, Opus Development Co., LLC, tells GlobeSt.com. In addition to the many local firms expressing a desire to expand, “we are also seeing a lot of new companies moving into the Des Moines area.”

“When you think about Iowa, you think agriculture,” he adds, and many of these new firms are distributors for machinery and products in that sector, but the central location of Des Moines has attracted a diverse set of companies. “The city is at the crossroads of the nation; I-80 runs through Des Moines and goes coast-to-coast and I-35 runs north and south connecting Canada and Mexico.”

Both Opus buildings provide tenants with 32' clear ceiling heights. Institutional-quality buildings of that height are still a bit of a rarity for this region, Conway says, but the extremely low vacancy rate, currently hovering around 2%, means space is at a premium. “It's a real value proposition for tenants. There are not a whole lot of options for them right now.”

Opus began construction on the development this month, and plans to complete it by May 2018. Opus' recent portfolio of work includes more than 6.8 million square feet of industrial developments currently under construction or completed in the past 24 months across the US including the first speculative warehouse at the Ankeny park, and the nearby Gateway Industrial Center in Grimes. Both of these developments were completed in February 2016 and have been fully leased.

Opus Development Co., LLC is the developer, Opus Design Build, LLC is the design-builder and Opus AE Group, LLC is the architect and engineer of record for the project. Marcus Pitts and Jeremy Spillman with JLL will market the property for lease.

Instant Insights /

Secondary Cities Attracting Industrial Activity

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