Carpenter Co. Purchases 15-Acre Expansion Site

Jon Napper, managing partner of locally based Courtland Development Co., brokered the sale on behalf of the park's joint venture partners, Courtland and Sacramento-based Panattoni Development Co. It's not commonplace for the JV to sell its dirt although it did sell 80 acres earlier this year to another corporation. "It happened to be a good opportunity," Napper tells GlobeSt.com, adding it took six months to get the Carpenter deal closed.

Carpenter Co.'s local division is housed at 4443 Bronze Way plus it has a subsidiary, Energy Products Corp., in additional leased space at 7557 Rambler Rd., both in Dallas. Jerry Alexander, principal in NAI Huff Partners in Fort Worth, represented the buy side, which is a 50-year-old manufacturer of polyurethane foam, processed polyester fiber and related products with operations in Canada, Europe and 16 US states. Courtland's Lisa Brinser teamed with Napper for the sale talks. The deal is believed to have topped $3 per sf based on other recent sales in immediate area.

Carpenter's ready-to-go development site fronts Mountain Creek Parkway, tucked between locally based American Leather Co.'s 220,000-sf warehouse at 4501 Mountain Creek Pkwy. and Pacoima, CA-headquartered Strategic Partners Inc.' 265,400-sf distribution center at 4715 Mountain Creek Pkwy. A Carpenter spokesman says the build-out plan is still being formulated, but did confirm that expansion is on the horizon.

Napper says there are still 160 acres of undeveloped land in Mountain Creek, with the Interstate 20 frontage designated for retail and abutting acreage earmarked for flex office to act as a buffer to the industrial space. There's also a hotel tract.

In the past five years, interstate traffic has increased significantly. Soon, Napper says, the retail land "will start marketing itself." The flex office component, single-story buildings with 18-foot clear heights, could start to rise in the next year, he says.