DeMattia Buys Land for $150M Park Expansion

The company paid $6 million to buy about 100 acres north of its currentMetroWest Technology Park, which currently includes tenants such as DowCorning, Metaldyne and Collins & Aikman.

Detroit owned the property, which is a portion of about 800 acres of formerprison land spread across Plymouth and Northville townships. The city ofDetroit is trying to get rid of all the unused property to raise money forits budget."We didn't need all that property, it's mostly residentially zoned," saidGary Roberts, president of DeMattia.

He said the new property will expand MetroWest, and will feature up to 15build-to-suit facilities."Looking at the original park, we have some buildings that are 12,000-sf,and some that are 400,000-sf," Roberts told GlobeSt.com. "It should bearound 900,000-sf total when built out. We're going to put about $10 millioninto infrastructure, like roads, sewers, etc."

He said he's had some inquires about the property, but nothing solid yet.The value of the property is based on what lack of other options are around,Roberts said."The Western-Wayne market, especially the M-14 corridor, is very successful,and we're about out of land," Roberts said. "This provides us the ability todo work for another five years here."

The corridor, which has followed a lot of residential movement west fromDetroit, has withstood some of the slowdowns of the economy, Roberts said.Current lease rates at his MetroWest park are at between $13-$15 triple net,Roberts said. The maximum lease rates for industrial and high tech space forWayne are $19, the highest in the Southeast Michigan area, according toFriedman Real Estate Group Inc. of Farmington.