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ROANOKE, TX-Exel Inc., the Westerville, OH-based affiliate of Deutsche Post World Net, has leased the entire 402,500-sf at Hillwood's spec-built industrial building within the Roanoke section of the 17,000-acre Alliance Texas development. Exel negotiated the deal at this time for its new partner, Lego Systems Inc., the Denmark-based manufacturer of play materials for children.

A representative for Hillwood, a Perot company, declined to disclose the length or value of the lease. However, area industrial brokers familiar with the property, tell GlobeSt.com the lease was probably for a minimum 15 years at an estimated gross rent of $5 per sf. That would put the estimated aggregate value of the transaction in the $30-million range, sources say.

In a prepared statement, Lego senior director Roger Vogt says the deal was done at this time because his company needed to be near its customers, new production facility in Mexico, new fulfillment partner for direct-to-consumer orders, and North American headquarters in Connecticut. "Critical to selecting a distribution partner was identifying someone with the proven experience in delivering world-class service in order to maintain logistical convenience, simplicity and quality for our retail partners," he says.