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McDONOUGH, GA-Oakmont Industrial Group has started the firstphase of construction on the speculative 1.6-million-sf SouthPortLogistics Center. The building, which is expected to be completedin the fourth quarter, will initially contain 912,600 sf.

SouthPort is situated on 106 acres in the Henry County submarketclose to Interstate 75. Tom Cobb, Oakmont's senior vice presidentof development, tells GlobeSt.com that Oakmont engaged logisticsconsultants while planning the building, which has been designed to"provide as much function as possible." Among design features ofthe building will be a 36-ft ceilings, four feet higher than the32-ft ceilings found in similar facilities. The floor slabs will be7-inches thick to accommodate the heavier loads that higherceilings will likely bring. Other design features include 54-ft by48-ft column spacing, 200-ft-deep full concrete truck courts andtrailer storage capacity for up to 735 secured spaces. "A few yearsago, trailer spaces were an afterthought. Now, it's a necessity,"Cobb says.