Freightliner Signs 360,000-SF W/D Lease

LOGAN TWP., NJ-Freightliner has signed a long-term lease for the entire 359,573-sf W/D building at 1140 Commerce Blvd. within DP Partners' LogistiCenter here. The Portland, OR-based truck manufacturer, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Commercial Vehicles Division of DaimlerChrysler, will relocate its parts distribution center currently at 2078 Center Square Rd. here, to the new building.

Completed this past October, the building is the first speculative construction within DP's LogistiCenter. "It represents the largest spec building to be built in this market for many years," says Michael Alderman, Eastern Region director of leasing for the Reno, NV-based DP Partners. "Now it is 100% leased, and we are seeing a lot of deal activity in the 700,000-sf-and-up range, which validates the potential of this market and our speculative development platform."GlobeSt.com, DP began construction in February for a second spec building in the 360,000-sf range within the 1,000-acre LogistiCenter at Logan. When construction of the second building was announced, Alderman reported, "we are currently in negotiations for the entire [first] building, and we are already fielding inquiries about our second building."

In the Freightliner deal, the tenant was represented by Randy Young, director of corporate services for the Portland, OR-based NAI Norris, Beggs & Simpson Cos., and by Tony Didio and Roy Kardon, vice presidents of the Mt. Laurel-based NAI Mertz Corp. Representing DP Partners were Alderman; James V. Mascaro, DP's Eastern Region development manager; and Bill Goodwin, EVP of CB Richard Ellis. Terms of the deal were not released.

"Large industrial sites are in short supply and 100,000-sf-plus facilities are difficult to find," Alderman says. "In spite of positive demand for space, there hadn't been a large facility built on a spec basis in the Gloucester County and South Jersey market for an extended period of time. This puts LogistiCenter at Logan in an excellent competitive position."

DP bought the 1,000-acre park, then known as Northeast Business Park, in 2005 from Harvey Development Co. and promptly renamed it with its LogistiCenter brand. The site has a total build-out capacity of 5.5 million sf.