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JUAREZ, MEXICO-This flourishing trade town has yielded two hefty industrial leases for ProLogis totaling 240,000 sf, headlined by a 180,000-sf transaction to local logistics distribution company Jorsa Logistics. That firm and new tenant EP Logistics will use ProLogis Park Independencia to provide regional distribution and warehousing services for clients in Juarez.

"We are very pleased to have these new agreements," says Silvano Solis, SVP and regional director for ProLogis in Mexico. "We look forward to serving our customers at their new locations, and to expanding our Juarez platform through additional acquisition and new development." According to Solis, the city's substantial labor pool and access to the US a few miles away at El Paso are key drawing points for industrial space users. Sporting a population of 1.3 million, Juarez is said to have the third largest concentration of industrial space in North America, with favorable trade agreements having led to even more construction of assembly plants and warehouse facilities this decade.

Nearly 10% of the 12.7 million sf of industrial supply ProLogis controls in Mexico is located in Juarez, and the latest spate of leasing is encouraging company officials to speed up the launch of a second phase at its Independencia complex. That initiative involves construction of two new facilities, and Denver-based ProLogis has additional land sites that could produce even more supply, says Solis. In total, upwards of 400,000 sf of new supply could be underway in the city by year's end, estimates Solis.