Acme Distribution Inks Full-Building Lease

Acme Distribution Co. will set up shop in the coming week at 225 SW 14th St. on the Grand Prairie side of the Great Southwest's line. Kevin Santaularia, president of Dallas-based Bradford Cos., tells GlobeSt.com that the logistics firm reviewed 30 to 40 buildings in the metroplex after landing a third-party contract for a Dallas/Fort Worth employer. "And, they elected to come back to Grand Prairie," he says, explaining Acme had done a 10-year run in the same location before its Texas division was bought in early 2000. "There was a level of comfort that the asset was the one that they could live with long term," he says.

About three months went into the talks to close the deal, says John Brewer with Henry S. Miller Commercial in Dallas who teamed with Pete Richardson to bargain terms for the owner, an Edison, NJ based limited partnership. Brewer says the building owner's willingness to install an ESFR sprinkler system helped to seal the deal. The 16-dock building, emptied about five months ago, had been on the market for $1.70 per sf net with 60 cents in expenses for an as-is move-in. He says Acme also did some interior change-out on a building with 13,071 sf of office space, but the work should be wrapping up for a move-in this week.

"We actually had two people fighting for the space," Brewer says, "which is a good indicator for the market." It's widely recognized that the Great Southwest's 18.5% industrial vacancy is one of the highest in the area.