Meridian Leases 60,000 SF to MyUS.com

TAMPA, FL-The Meridian Development Group, owners of the Meridian Distribution Center, a nearly one-million square foot, multi-tenanted distribution center in Sarasota, leased 60,000 square feet to MYUS.com for five years with two, five-year options. MyUS.com is a package forwarding service for businesses and consumers throughout the world, who want to buy from US merchants, including online retailers, but receive shipments in foreign countries. The merchandise will be delivered to the warehouse in Sarasota and from there shipped overseas by MyUS.com.

MYUS.com is expanding to the new space from two existing locations in nearby Manatee County, bringing  60 new jobs to Sarasota with the potential to add up to another 165 employees over the next five years. At the Meridian Distribution Center, the company will be allowed to grow to 100,000 square feet. “Sarasota’s Economic Development Corporation was instrumental in bringing this transaction to fruition,” says Steven Kossoff, managing director of the Meridian Development Group based in Clearwater.

Kossoff declined to give the rental rate for the MyUS.com lease, but did say that, “like the rest of market, at the Meridian Distribution Center, rents average $4.50 per square foot, triple net.” The occupancy rate at the distribution center is about 90%, he says.

The property, a former Winn-Dixie distribution center, is located about a mile from I-75. “Many companies need bulk distribution in the region, and from Sarasota, it is one day’s drive by truck to reach 87% of the state of Florida,” says Kossoff. Ironically, MyUS.com will be using air transportation as much as land transportation, because it ships packages overseas. The company will use  the Sarasota-Bradenton International and Tampa International Airports, says Kossoff.

The Meridian Development Group owns and manages more than 2.2 million square feet of bulk distribution warehouse space in the eastern half of the country.