Soulard Commerce Center bridges e-commerce, consumer gap

Soulard Commerce Center, a Class A warehouse building located in the 35-acre Soulard Business Park, is complete and available for leasing, according to JLL.

Developed by The Opus Group, the 154,937-SF spec warehouse is the first modern industrial building in the area since 2004. The building can accommodate final-mile destination warehouse and delivery, light manufacturing or general office/warehouse uses.

“This area of the city, and for that matter points further south in the city and county, are the most supply constrained in our market when it comes to modern industrial building product. It is a swath of the market with significant barriers to developing at scale, and The Opus Group has achieved that in Soulard Commerce Center. In the process, they’ve created a unique alternative for industrial occupiers who previously had to consider locations further away from their customer and employee bases,” said Pat Reilly, executive vice president of industrial leasing for JLL.

Soulard Commerce Center is designed for multiple tenants with individual build-to-suit spaces starting at about 22,000 SF. It features 32-foot, clear-height ceilings and 24 trailer parking stalls to suit a variety of uses, including e-commerce and urban logistics.

With easy access to Interstates 44, 55, 70 and 64, the building location can meet the distribution needs of modern final-mile networks, which have become more important with the explosive growth of e-commerce.

“The recent boom in e-commerce has created an increased demand for modern industrial space,” said Ryan Carlie, director of real estate development at Opus. “Soulard Commerce Center provides tenants a diverse space that can accommodate a variety of needs within a convenient and desirable location.”

The building benefits from 25-year real estate tax abatement. Base rent for the building is $6.50 per square foot.

Midwest warehouse demand continues to rise

Booming interest in industrial space continues to fill St. Louis industrial parks and warehouses, according to commercial real estate firm JLL.

With a flurry of new leases signed in the last quarter, the brokerage firm says last year’s figures have met the record of 4.1 million square feet of absorption previously set in 2019. According to JLL’s 2021 Midwest Industrial Outlook, the Midwest markets are seeing unprecedented growth and will need 275 million square feet of new warehouse space in the next five years to accommodate surging demand.

“Had you asked in March what the outlook for industrial real estate would be for 2020, the answer would not have been where we are today,” said David Branding, managing director for JLL’s St. Louis industrial markets team.

“The activity, especially in last quarter, helped achieve another record year of absorption. We fully expect to see the same momentum and even an increase in demand going into this year and likely well beyond,” Branding said.

JLL’s report indicates that St. Louis experienced a 79 percent increase in bulk inventory since 2016 after having virtually no new construction from 2009 to 2015. In 2020, e-commerce accounted for more than 40 percent of the leasing activity. The majority of new warehouse construction continues to be in North County, St. Charles and the Metro East.

Last quarter, JLL represented tenants and developers in more than 670,000 square feet in new lease agreements. Altus Properties signed a 135,400-square-foot lease at its Corporate 44 Business Park in Fenton, Mo. Building 4 at the park is now fully leased with the expansion of current park tenant Re-Sort Solutions, a specialty packaging and warehouse company.

Cambridge Engineering, a Chesterfield Valley company, signed a lease for 68,605 SF within the Wentzville Distribution Center, owned by SparrowHawk Development. This lease brings occupancy in the building to 100%.

Agile Packaging Solutions, a specialty packaging company serving customers in St. Louis, leased 241,448 SF at Park 370 Center 1 in Hazelwood, Mo., bringing the building to 100% occupancy.

JLL also represented St. Louis Business Center on two recent lease agreements within the center, located in the North City submarket. Werner Enterprises and American Trailer Rental Group have both leased trailer yards within the park. The leases are part of a larger trend of facilities catering to increased commercial truck and trailer traffic related to e-commerce, both in and around the St. Louis market and on cross-country routes. This is American Trailer’s first St. Louis location.

Top tenant expansions in the St. Louis market include Amazon, World Wide Technology, Geodis, Reckitt Benckiser and Save A Lot. The companies signed 18 new leases totaling more than 8.7 million SF. The area’s top developers, including NorthPoint, TriStar, Pannattoni, Duke Realty and CRG, brought more the 15 million SF of new warehouse space to market in 2020.

“With an expected $900 billion increase in e-commerce sales expected in the next five years, St. Louis is poised to gain significant investment and growth among major institutional players, some who have already begun recognizing the market, and others who undoubtedly are now starting to take notice,” said Branding.

STL Regional Freightway launches new real estate site map

The St. Louis Regional Freightway has launched the expanded Featured Real Estate Sites Map section of its website, which highlights a wealth of information about the bi-state St. Louis region’s growing real estate market with its abundance of warehouse/distribution buildings and land sites ready for all types of industrial and corporate users.

The new tool is another offering from the St. Louis region’s go-to source for coordinating freight activity, which is committed to providing up-to-date information for the entire industrial market as it works to provide both marketing for active sites and accurate listings for interested parties.

The Featured Real Estate Sites Map section at www.thefreightway.com/real-estate/ provides a unique look at the region and pulls data from both the Illinois and Missouri sides of the Mississippi River, spanning from the City of St. Louis to multiple surrounding counties in the bi-state area, including opportunities at two airports.

“The goal is to collaborate between municipalities, counties, and cities in the St. Louis region and market the entire St. Louis MSA as an active, business-focused, growth-ready region primed for further industrial development,” said Mary Lamie, head of the St. Louis Regional Freightway and executive vice president of Multi Modal Enterprises at Bi-State Development.

The St. Louis Regional Freightway site is tracking 37 sites with more than 8,000+ acres available for development. These sites are actively updated with site information, pricing changes, and accurate contact information to make it easy for anyone searching for potential operation locations.

Data is compiled through communication with brokers and developers around the region and also from third party property databases. The website is regularly updated and is provided without cost to property owners, brokers and developers

Sites included on the website must all meet the following criteria: the developable land is 20 acres or larger; the site is being actively marketed; existing structures are modern bulk buildings (minimum 24’ clear height); the location has access to a major transportation highway, rail spur (or rail potential), seaport access, or runway access; and, lastly, entitlements and utilities must be in place.

The sites are all located in the bi-state St. Louis region, which is becoming increasingly recognized as business focused and perfectly situated to help companies both large and small, seeking a single location with global access. The region is suited for operations ranging from a global headquarters to manufacturing operations to distribution hubs to call centers or service centers at a cost-effective level. It allows companies to find the right spots for every branch of their company in a single region while having a global reach. The abundance of developable land makes it easy to get a site selected, construction started and operations commenced.

“St. Louis not only has the places and the people that companies need to grow but also all has the logistical advantages of being in the middle of it all, which allows easy access to their supply chain,” said said Allison Gray, vice president, Steadfast City Economic & Community Partners. “The Real Estate section of the St. Louis Regional Freightway website is the best spot to find all of the up-to-date information for industrial sites across the entire region.”

While the website will be regularly updated with new sites as they are announced, the following is a summary of the newest sites added prior to the launch of the expanded website:

• Mid America Commerce Center – New industrial park in O’Fallon, Ill., developed by TriStar Cos. with more than 200 acres of developable land for warehouse/distribution buildings ranging from 25,000 SF to 710,000 SF with a possible 10-year tax abatement.

• Dupo Real Estate & Development Sites – Dupo, Ill., offers multiple sites for commercial and industrial development and is located at a primary east-west rail corridor serving the nation’s third largest rail hub. Sites range from 10 acres – 200 acres.

• Hartford Logistics Park – Located in Madison County, Ill., this park offers nearly 400 acres of land available for built-to-suit projects for buildings up to ±1.5M with potential rail access. 

• Earth City Industrial Sites – The Earth City, Mo. submarket is a large industrial hub of nearly 3,000 acres of industrial construction. Links to 8 new site listings were recently added to the Earth City section.

• Wentzville I-70/I-64 Real Estate Sites – Wentzville, MO, is the location of the GM Wentzville Assembly Plant and is at the intersection of Interstate 70 and Interstate 64. Highly desirable buildings and land sites are available ranging from 18 acres – 50 acres. 

Check out these sites and the other bi-state St. Louis sites at the St. Louis Regional Freightway’s website:  www.thefreightway.com/real-estate/

Opus chips in on the 2020 industrial market boom

The Opus Group is chipping in on the ever-expanding 2020 industrial market, this time in Earth City, Mo.

Johnstone Supply, a leader in the HVACR industry, will anchor their new headquarters and distribution center on four acres of the 13.5-acre development. Construction of their 45,000-SF space is scheduled to begin this month.

“Our team has been grateful to work with Opus throughout this process and we’re eager to see this project through to completion. Our new building allows us to expand our business, offer additional educational training courses and bring new jobs to the community," said Larry Wines with Johnstone Supply.

Upon opening, Johnstone Supply will occupy 10,000 SF for the company’s headquarters, which will include a training room and product showroom. Centralizing these facilities under one roof will allow the company to further establish its presence in the St. Louis area.

“Our team identified this location as one of the last developable sites in Earth City. Through the expertise of our integrated team and strong broker relationships, we’ve been able to work closely with St. Louis County to develop a modern industrial building that will meet the demand for local, regional and national industrial users," said Ryan Carlie, director of real estate development at Opus.

Opus also plans to begin construction this month on an 111,000-SF speculative industrial development on the remaining 9.5 acres. 

The addition will accommodate multiple tenants, offering 139 parking stalls, 32-foot clear height, 27 dock positions, including two drive-in positions, and clerestory windows. With immediate access to Interstate 70 and directly off of state Route 141, this project offers accessibility and external visibility.

Opus is the developer, design-builder, and architect and engineer of record. Jake Corrigan and Vince Bajardi with Sansone Group will be marketing the project for lease.

Construction on both buildings is expected to be complete in early 2021.