Weir Bros. Inc. will start infrastructure work this month on its site, situated off FM 156 in the Haslet section of the Alliance Global Logistics Hub. The storage facility won't have "through-the-gate" access, but will be right around the corner from the BNSF yard, according to Tony Creme, Hillwood's marketing manager.
Creme tells GlobeSt.com that Weir's first phase will take down about half the site, providing storage room for 3,000 containers. The bulk of the cost lies in putting a surface on the dirt to store the containers as well as fencing and lighting. A small office building, sewer lines and interior road will also be part of the first phase, penciled for completion in the second quarter.
The BNSF intermodal yard has had a 40% increase in cargo containers since it opened in 2001. It currently traffics 600,000 containers annually, but projections show it will hit the one-million mark by 2011 due to increased flow from the West Coast and China.
Creme says Hillwood examined all options for providing additional container storage for BNSF, including joint venture partners. "For the first one, we decided we were going to sell the land to a company that's done it before," he says, citing site challenges because part of the land sits in a flood plain. Weir has a similar facility in East Dallas.
"We will monitor how this one does and make a decision whether to build another or if there's a need for another," Creme explains. Weir's site at build-out will support 6,000 containers. He and Hillwood's Bill Burton worked out the terms with Weir's broker, Jamie Hansen with the Hansen Co. in Dallas.
"This allows BNSF to have more on-site space to accept arriving shipments and to improve overall efficiencies in the supply chain," Michael Berry, president of Hillwood Properties, says in a press release.
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