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STOCKTON, CA-Opus West Corp. has acquired 474 acres adjacent to Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.'s rail intermodal terminal here with visions an 8.2 million-sf, extra-large format distribution center servicing the international logistics industry. Road and infrastructure work is slated to get underway later this year at the site, which fronts Arch Road east of Highway 99.

The Minneapolis-based developer's Northern California SVP Don Little tells Globet.com the story behind the strategy is increased offshore manufacturing raising inbound container traffic at California ports that are largely at capacity and unable to accommodate the additional material handling. As a result, Little says the big players in the global logistics supply chain are seeking centrally located, consolidated distribution centers on rail lines away from the port for collection, handling and distribution by train and truck throughout the West and Midwest.

"They are looking for 1-, 2-, 3 million-sf facilities to handle high-volume in-bound container receipt," Little says. "We've owned this land for only a week and without any kind of promotion or solicitation we've been approached by a handful of the best of the best with this kind of need, half of whom would be coming out of Southern California."