Panattoni Launches 209-Acre Park With $10M Build-to-Suit

Jon C. Napper, Panattoni's Texas partner, says the land for NorthPort was quietly under negotiations for six months. "It's an excellent land opportunity," he says of acreage neighboring Texas Motor Speedway and close to Hillwood's intermodal facility, Westport. He tells GlobeSt.com that Northlake's biggest leverage in getting Panattoni's attention is a 29.5-cent property tax per $100 of the assessed value, a rate that will deliver the lowest operating cost in the metroplex.

"We view this project as part of the Alliance region," Napper says, pointing out it too is Triple Freeport exempt. The land, with frontage along Interstate 35W and Texas 114, can accommodate up to two million sf of industrial space. There are 30 acres earmarked for multifamily development and 55 acres for retail projects.

Craig Zodikoff of Equis Corp. brokered the deal. Alliance Architects designed the build-to-suit; Panattoni Construction will build it. And if all stays on track, the Oakland, CA-headquartered Clorox should be relocating its Kingsford Division from 3030 LBJ Freeway in Dallas sometime in the fourth quarter.

"This project is off to a great start," Napper said in press release, "and 2004 already looks promising." The confidence clearly is tied to a string of build-to-suits in Panattoni's other Dallas County developments, the 880-acre Pinnacle Park along Interstate 30 and 410-acre Mountain Creek Business Park along Interstate 20. In recent weeks, ground broke on a 265,400-sf distribution facility for Strategic Partners in Mountain Creek, where work is close to wrapping up on a 250,000-sf light manufacturing facility for American Leather. In Pinnacle Park, completion is nearing for the first phase to a 472,250-sf building, which got its start with a 202,500-sf lease to Neiman Marcus Direct Chefs Catalog Division; a 71,619-sf project for Hardie's Fruit & Vegetables Co. Inc.; and 64,767-sf structure for Heritage Farms Inc.