Commercial real estate firm JLL has announced a national contract packaging company has signed a lease to locate to Gateway TradePort in Pontoon Beach, Ill.
The unnamed tenant will occupy 217,000 SF of the 543,227-SF warehouse in Building 2, according to JLL, who is also currently negotiating with another tenant to lease additional space in the park.
With a new tenant in the industrial park’s second building, NorthPoint Development has announced plans to begin construction on a third building starting in early 2021. Gateway TradePort 3 will have 624,000 SF, 40-foot clear ceilings (only the second of its kind in St. Louis – Building 2 being the first) and a 23-year tax abatement.
The quick leasing of Buildings 1 and 2 is further evidence of the growing interest in the park and within the Metro East submarket of the St. Louis region, according to JLL managing director David Branding.
“As a top 20 U.S. industrial market, St. Louis is following national growth trends as industrial real estate markets continue to accelerate in reaction to COVID-19. As work-from-home becomes the new norm, and stay-at-home orders increase, we’ve seen e-commerce, logistics, and consumer product companies with COVID-19 related products driving up demand in the Metro East and throughout St. Louis Metro. I expect these same companies to be a driving force for leasing volume throughout 2021,” Branding said.
The industrial vacancy rate in the Metro East area is currently 5.7 percent, down from 7.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020. In the third quarter alone, more than 1 million square feet has been absorbed in this submarket.
Much of this interest has been fueled by booming e-commerce growth and the need to build “last-mile” infrastructure - distribution and warehouse centers that are strategically located to get products to customers’ doors as quickly as possible.
The 600-acre Gateway TradePort industrial park is ideally positioned, thanks to its proximity to major interstates. It is located at the intersection of I-270 and I-255, with fast access to Interstates 55, 64 and 70. The Metro East is also home to a high concentration of transportation and warehouse workers, and a lower average hourly starting wage than other industrial parks in the St. Louis area. An exclusive 23-year real-estate tax abatement period at Gateway TradePort provides added incentive for long-term tenancy.
Eventual plans for the park call for a total of 11 industrial buildings with a combined 7.8 million SF. It’s the fifth, ground-up industrial development in the St. Louis market by NorthPoint Development.