New Point Man, Plan Driving 633-Acre Park

FORT WORTH-The joint venture owner of the 633-acre Railhead Fort Worth has put a new point man in charge of the park. Along with the top industrial assignment comes a plan to get more spec space on the ground.

Dave Anderson, executive vice president for CB Richard Ellis in Dallas, is taking over leasing and land sales of the North Fort Worth park for Zephyr Rail Industrial LP, a partnership between San Antonio-based USAA Real Estate Co. and local developer, the Cornell Co. For several years, Railhead has been under the guardianship of Trey Fricke, who took the listing with him when he formed Lee & Associates DFW after the breakup of the former NAI Stoneleigh Huff Brous McDowell firm. The listing changed hands without a competition between the two top-ranked industrial brokers.

According to Anderson, who put the St. Paul-based ConAgra Foods Inc. into Railhead, USAA asked him to take on the park, sealing the deal after 30 days of talks. From Fricke's perspective, he says "I think the ownership anticipates ancillary business will follow ConAgra."

Railhead has more than six million sf of bulk distribution and warehouse space on nearly 300 acres, but has the capacity for another four million sf. The JV's in-house inventory has just 168,000 sf of open space in a 273,874-sf warehouse, now being marketed for $3.50 per sf. Anderson says the plan is to add more spec, telling GlobeSt.com that a decision will be made within 90 days as to which of park's 10 remaining sites will be the next to break ground and the project size. The sites are ticketed for buildings from 99,000 sf to 800,000 sf. A market analysis is under way, but all signs are pointing to a warehouse with at least 350,000 sf, Anderson says.

Railhead competes with AllianceTexas, which always has a buffer of open space so it can close deals that need to turn quickly. Anderson says a similar strategy is needed at Railhead. "You want to have an inventory up that can take care of tenants who need space," he emphasizes. "We have five prospects working for the spec space now. It makes sense for us to start looking at another building."

Anderson's strategy will play up the park's dual rail service. "It's the only place in the metro where you can get 12 hours of access from one railroad and 12 hours from another," he says. "That's very compelling."

But its Foreign Trade Zone status also makes it a chief contender for non-rail tenants, with ready access to Loop 820 and Interstate 35W. "A lot of parks in Dallas and the Mid-Cities are quickly becoming fully developed and a lot of industrial is pushing to the west and south," Anderson points out. "So, we're going to see a lot of non-rail service users as well."

Fricke agrees that Railhead is destined for another stellar year. The foundation's been laid with a high-profile roster of tenants like Mattel Corp., Del Monte Foods Co. and International Paper Co. "I think Railhead will continue to be a success," he says, "and I expect they'll make several deals this year due to increased demand in rail service."