$17M Buy Sparks 39-Acre Warehouse/Distribution Park Plan

In partnership with Morgan Stanley Real Estate's prime property fund, Lincoln paid $17 million, or $435,897 an acre and $10 per sf, for the land. Steven J. Medwin, a Lincoln VP in the Miami office, tells GlobeSt.com, the all-in development cost, including the land acquisition, is estimated at between $50 million and $60 million.

The parcel at NW 138th Street and NW 115th Avenue is adjacent to the Pan American North Business Park and contains more than 2,000 feet of frontage along the Florida Turnpike extension. It is one of the largest contiguous parcels of developable industrial land in the Airport West and Medley submarkets.

Medwin and Harry E. Wardell, also a VP in Miami, represented Lincoln in the land acquisition, and they will be marketing the development. Lee Katsikos of Doran Jason Group of Florida Inc. and Michael Sigerman of Lucky Commercial Realty represented the seller, Turnpike Land Corp.

Medwin says Lincoln will begin construction within six to nine months, and completion is expected within 12 to 18 months. "The plan now calls for three buildings, two of approximately 160,000 sf and another of about 340,000 sf. We plan to construct them simultaneously, all on spec, but if a build-to-suit client intervenes, the configuration and timeline could change a bit.

"The market is very active," he says. "There are quite a few companies looking for class A, institutional grade facilities for 100,000 sf and up. We've had inquiries." He says the rental rate will be "market rate," but declined to provide a rate prior to completion. Current industrial rates in Medley are $6.34 per sf for bulk distribution facilities, $8.20 per sf for flex industrial and $6.38 per sf overall, according to a September statistical update from the Miami office of CB Richard Ellis, which puts the industrial vacancy in the submarket at 2%.