SuperValu Lights 243,458 SF

SuperValu Inc., based in Minneapolis, set up shop in the former Winn Dixie warehouse at 5500 South Freeway, which has been a short-term runway for several industrial tenants until now. "SuperValu is nice because it's a long-term deal. It's showing that it's starting to stabilize it out," Walter Floyd with NAI Stoneleigh Huff Brous McDowell in Fort Worth tells GlobeSt.com about a facility that went dark in late 2002 when Winn Dixie exited Texas.

Floyd and NAI's Trey Fricke have been hawking the space for about a year at $2.75 per sf net for the Industrial Realty Group LLC of Downey, CA-based, which bought the asset in early 2003. Floyd says three flex tenants, all on short-term contracts, account for 40% or more of the leased space. In May 2003, North American Freight Exchange penned a 63-month pact for 54,586 sf. SuperValu, as the new kid on the block but one with clout, took over the freezer, cooler and part of the dry space in a center designed for grocery distribution.

Based on the SuperValu Web site, the Fort Worth location is the grocer's first distribution point in the Southwest. Last September, SuperValu exchanged New England assets for a Midwest division in a swap with C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. after it bought the bulk of the liquidated assets from North Texas' Fleming Cos. Inc. SuperValu's 2004-05 corporate strategy calls for 110 to 140 new "extreme value combination" stores and eight to 10 new regional banner locations as it expands a footprint with 1,468 stores in 40 states. Its brands are Cub Foods, Shop 'n Save, Shoppers Food Warehouse, bigg's, Farm Fresh, Scott's Foods and Hornbacher's.

Floyd says SuperValu spun a signing in three weeks. Dan Cook and Gary Collette, both with Cushman & Wakefield of Texas Inc., represented SuperValu.