Construction Steps Up for 630,800-SF Project

Trade Center 1 at International Commerce Park will start to go vertical in March, Dayton Conklin, TCC's senior vice president in Dallas, tells GlobeSt.com. Today, the developer hosts an official ground-breaking for the "one-of-a-kind" facility in an airport-owned development with 40-year ground leases for premium land that's attracting a bevy of projects from some of the top development names in town. The development interest on ground-leased land clearly is tied to the ability to tap into a foreign trade zone, a designation only available in the airport area and the Hillwood-controlled AllianceTexas in northeast Tarrant County. Besides the FTZ status, International Commerce Park carries a Triple Freeport exemption.

Conklin confirms talks with prospective tenants have begun for a 125-crossdock office/warehouse with a 34-foot clear height and a ballpark rent of $3.25 per sf net. "There's no vacancy of this size with the benefits and features that this building provides," he says of the one-off project sitting in a submarket that has attracted the lion's share of the industrial deals in the last few years.

Marked for a summer delivery, Trade Center I has a 150-foot truck court with a 50-foot expansion capability for trailer parking, a key feature with new trucking regulations limiting road time for drivers. The state-of-the-art interior design has corporate appeal in a location with "major exposure" near the LBJ Freeway and Royal Lane, Conklin says, offering a hint about the marketing strategy he's employing to fill what is considered the largest block of space in the marketplace. In today's market, replacement costs for a finished-out building of Trade Center I's caliber would run 32 cents per sf to 35 cents per sf.

CF Jordan LP of El Paso is the general contractor. Gromatzky Dupree & Associates of Dallas is the architect.