DP Partners Caps Name Change with Land Sale, New Projects

RENO, NV-In today’s changing times, one of Reno, NV’s leading industrial construction firms has implemented a moniker shift from Dermody Properties to DP Partners. The change falls in line with the imminent sale of 100 acres and its sole holding in Chandler, AZ while it beefs up its presence on the Eastern Seaboard and Midwest.

The Chandler property at the intersection of McClintock and Chandler Boulevard is under contract to Hancock Communities of 1414 W. Broadway Rd. in Tempe. The acreage, situated a mile west of the 1.3 million-sf Chandler Fashion Square, is better suited to residential development than DP Partners’ industrial scope. Aaron Paris, DP Partners’ COO, says the homebuilder is in the process of seeking a zoning change for the flex and research and development tract. DP Partners has owned the infill site for about three years. “The market’s just not there right now,” Paris tells GlobeSt.com.

That’s not the case in Indianapolis and Atlanta, where DP Partners will set up offices to steer developments in the Chicago area and Eastern Seaboard. The game plan, Paris says, is to have product ready when the economy rebounds.

DP Partners has secured development partners for 60 acres in the Indianapolis region and is closing on 20 acres in the Harrisburg region, where it has 200 acres ticketed for spec industrial projects. In April 2002, a Harrisburg area ground-breaking is being eyed for a two-building spec industrial development while DP Partners lays the groundwork for a 950,000-sf spec project to start in fourth quarter 2002. Also in April 2002, DP will break ground on a 250,000-sf spec industrial development on a 50-acre tract in Las Vegas. In Atlanta, the firm is scouting for more land after bringing a four-building, one million-sf project to market. And Dec. 1 brings the delivery a 650,000-sf spec distribution building for 48 acres at the Golden Empire’s 275,000-acre Tejon Ranch. It is the first Southern California project for DP Partners. The first tenant signing should be in hand by the end of February from the handful of prospects now being courted, says Paris.

The switch from Dermody Properties to DP Partners does not mean the exit of Michael Dermody as president. “He still will be a very active player,” says Paris. “This is a natural evolution of the company.”

DP Partners better reflects the company’s philosophy to team with development partners, such as CalPERS. DP Partners considers its core markets to be Nevada, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Georgia and California.