Industrial Warehouse Goes Green

The warehouse itself is being built on behalf of its owner, an investment client of BlackRock, the latter of which recently purchased the project and is serving as financer. Cushman & Wakefield--which signed a memorandum of understanding with the Environmental Protection Agency in early January--has been tapped to serve as exclusive leasing agent.

"This is one of the first warehouse buildings on the East Coast to pursue LEED certification," says Michael Pavelsky of the Sheward Partnership, the LEED and sustainability consultant for the project. "We are seeing more developers move in this direction with regard to office space, but it is still unusual for an industrial building to achieve LEED certification. It takes a forward-thinking developer to understand the long-term savings and benefits that this kind of construction can provide."The building recently earned Silver Pre-certification from the USGBC under the LEED for Core & Shell v2.0 Rating System. The developers currently are pursuing a final LEED Silver Certification.

Aside from the green features, the building also includes a minimum 36-foot clearance; 108 fully-equipped 9-foot by 10-foot cross-load dock doors; 130-foot truck courts and 60-foot concrete aprons; parking for 176 cars and 103 trailers; 50-foot by 54-foot bays throughout; and 65-foot by 54-foot staging bays.

"Many corporations are getting mandates from their leadership to seek space in green buildings and to become more environmentally conscious," says Goldman. "This warehouse provides them with that opportunity. In addition, future tenants will be assisted in achieving LEED status in the construction of their interior space within the building."