The latest expansion--Metro Active Warehouse & DistributionLtd.--closes off 143,620 sf in the 1.3-million-sf Gateway 50 at 743Henrietta Creek Rd. The logistics provider, inking a long-termlease, has been working out of 41,940 sf of temporary space inGateway 9 since March. Metro Active, planning an October move-in,will relocate its headquarters to Gateway 50 as well, getting a5,000-sf office makeover as part of the package.

Metro Active's lease takes Gateway 50 to 95% occupancy.Comparable second-generation space in the area is being marketed inthe upper $2 per sf range. "With good second-generation space,owners are able to be a lot more aggressive because the rates arebased on yesterday's construction cost," says Steve Aldrich,marketing manager for Hillwood Properties. "We're as aggressive asanywhere in the market."

Aldrich tells GlobeSt.com that the rash of expansions in the17,000-acre AllianceTexas could lead to a groundbreaking on anotherspec building by year's end or early 2007. Dealmakers already arecircling a recently delivered, 400,000-sf Gateway 62 so plannershave started working on a cross-dock design to add to the park'savailable inventory, according to Aldrich. "We're on the front ofthe next wave," he adds.