Tenant Says Goodbye to Carrollton, Hello to 100,800 SF in Coppell

Jason Flood, president of JDF Inc., tells GlobeSt.com that the strategy is to get closer to his father's operation, Daryl Flood Warehouse & Movers. That move would have come in a few years since the two are planning to build a second structure at 450 Airline Dr., he says, but decided to relocate now versus waiting. JDF occupies about 200,000 sf at 1720 Hayden Dr. and will be transferring part of its operation into Flood's 150,000-sf building. But, Ablah Enterprises Inc., owner of the DFW Distribution Center at 500 Airline Dr., gets the bulk of the deal in the form of a long-term lease.

Frank A. Mills, Ablah's executive vice president, says it's hard to say just when the next signing will come. The momentum is starting to pick up and proposals are out. "We have prospects for the rest of it and we're hoping they'll come along pretty soon," he tells GlobeSt.com. That talking got a boost yesterday when Mills and his team hosted a brokers' barbeque luncheon on the DFW Distribution Center grounds. The party caps months of demolition. "It's ready to show," says Mills, confident that his $16-million buy last year of the vacant 55,000-sf headquarters and 410,000-sf distribution center, all on 32 acres, will prove to be a good income generator.

Merriman & Associates of Dallas did the finish-out design while Scott Reid of Dallas got the general contractor's award for the project, starting up about a month after they turned over the keys to an 80,000-sf spot to ODW Contract Services Inc. of Columbus, OH for a Lexus-Toyota regional distribution center.

Ken Wesson of the Bradford Cos. in Dallas represented Ablah, headquartered in Wichita, KS. Bob Hagewood of Dallas-based Staubach Co. negotiated for the tenant.