Michigan-Based Firm Relocates St. Louis Operation

ARLINGTON, TX-A Sturgis, MI-based paper company has relocated its St. Louis operation to 89,544 sf in the Arlington section of the Great Southwest Industrial Park. Lakeland Paper reportedly set up shop over the weekend at 600 109th St.

The Great Southwest structure, owned by Northwestern Mutual Life, was one of 12 that the company screened for its Texas launch, David Teeter of Henry S. Miller Commercial’s Dallas office tells GlobeSt.com. “It’s a good size lease for right now,” he says, adding the pact is valued at roughly $1 million for the five-year term. Industrial leasing in the Great Southwest has been holding its own this year, more so than other industrial pockets of comparable age in the Dallas-Ft. Worth market.

The building has all the right stuff for an immediate ramping up, driving a signing after 3 1/2 months of scouting the market. The rail-serviced building contains five or six rail doors and is outfitted with heavy-duty levelers to accommodate Lakeland’s paper-cutting production lines. The single-story structure also is outfitted with high power capabilities. “They felt they could get up and running more quickly in that building than any of the others,” says Teeter. Lakeland Paper cuts large rolls of paper, some weighing up to 6,000 pounds, into smaller rolls for commercial use by customers such as book publishers. Initially, 35 jobs will be created, but that will increase to 50, he says.