SSB Takes 430K in Year's Largest Cincy Deal

CINCINNATI—SSB Manufacturing has just agreed to a long-term lease for 430,668 square-feet at 601 Gateway Boulevard in Park North, a speculative development in suburban Monroe recently completed by IDI-Gazeley. The Atlanta-based mattress manufacturer, which supplies both Serta and Simmons, recently received a state tax credit to expand operations here. It is leaving a 149,000 square-foot space and will occupy IDI's building later this year.      

SSB was represented in the transaction, the largest lease this year, by CBRE's Mike Lowe, first vice president, and Tim Schenke, vice president. But finding such a large space is not easy in the Cincinnati metro area. As reported in GlobeSt.com, after a very active 2014 the vacancy rate sank to 4.8% in this year's first quarter, a historic low.

“A few years ago you would have 10 spaces to look at,” Schenke tells GlobeSt.com. “We evaluated all of the greater Cincinnati area, including Northern Kentucky,” but only several met SSB's desire for class A facilities that were available quickly.

Fortunately for SSB, IDI Gazeley had just finished their new 649,000 square-foot development in Monroe. And with the limited availability, Schenke says CBRE had to move quickly to negotiate a market deal and not lose out on the building to another user.

However, users looking for big spaces will probably have an easier time in the near future. “This year we will probably see developers kick off several new speculative developments,” says Schenke. Others have already begun. As reported in GlobeSt.com, Opus Development Co. recently started two speculative industrial buildings at Port Union Commerce Park in suburban Fairfield and West Chester that will total more than 800,000 square feet of space. And IDI Gazeley will soon finish a speculative project at Park South in Walton, KY, that will add about 787,000 square feet to the market.