GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Ford Leases 212,000-SF for Regional Distribution

Andy Kangas, the CB Richard Ellis broker that represented Ford, tells GlobeSt.com the deal has been in the making for about 15 months and includes 9,000-sf of office space. Kangas would not reveal the lease rate, but others familiar with the space says it would have leased in the range of $0.23-$0.35 per sf per month, with an office space surcharge ranging from $0.60-$0.65 per sf per month. A 10-year lease nearer the bottom of both ranges would be worth about $7 million.

The five-year-old building, located at 8929 North Ramsey, is owned by Investco of Dallas. It was not immediately clear if Ford's space was subleased from A&M Warehouse or leased directly from Investco. 800.com, the previous tenant, had subleased its space from A&M.

Kangas says A&M Warehouse was the only option for Ford in Portland because it is one of the few modern industrial buildings with a 30-foot clear height and available space, says Kangas, adding that Portland was selected because it was the spot on the map from which it would take Ford only one day to reach its dealerships in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Northern California.

"Because we're not a major distribution hub, we have seen most of our buildings developed with heights no more than 26 feet, and that has worked," says Kangas. "But the new corporate users today are starting to demand higher ceilings because they want the cube height."

Overall demand on the industrial side ahs been flat for the past 18 months, but things appear to be picking up, says Kangas. "For a period of time this spring the Ford deal was the only big deal bumping around," he says. "Then the rest of Corporate America--not Portland--started waking up and now we're starting to see an influx of larger corporate users that are bumping around the market, while the local and smaller regional guys are still hunkered down."