In a press release, Miller credits Duke's previous short-term agreements with Welton as being dealmakers for the long-term, mega-lease. “Those smaller transactions may not have been big deals for Duke, but they were a huge deal for Welton,” he says, “and paid off for Duke in the long run.” Welton is a distributor of furniture and electronics for the rent-to-own and retail sectors.

Thornton says the Duke team decided to chase Welton's 550,000-sf requirement with a proposal to build a second warehouse in the 185-acre park. “It was that prelease that allowed us to kick off that building,” Thornton tells GlobeSt.com. Duke had the 756,577-sf Point West VII at 240 Dividend Dr. under construction, but it also had lined up Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. for 365,000 sf of it, leaving only 391,027 sf to fill. Now, Thornton points out the untapped space in both buildings “allows us to meet all user sizes.”

With leasing activity so brisk in the northwestern submarket, Duke has hired Randy Wood as vice president of industrial leasing, putting Point West's reins into his hands. Wood has worked for the past three years for Aurora, CO-based ProLogis. Duke's negotiators for the Welton lease were Thornton and Curt Hefner, senior industrial leasing representative.

“Our activity is outstanding in the northwest submarket,” says Jeff Turner, Duke's senior vice president in Dallas. “And, basically there's no land left to build on.” The exception is Duke's land, which it bought in late September 2006 from the Lesley family for a mixed-use plan with 2.1 million sf of industrial space, 800,000 sf of value office and 22.3 acres earmarked for retail and hotel development.

Turner says he's “really trying to push the market with bigger spec buildings” in the submarket, relying on Point West's “grade A location” to win nods from distribution tenants like Welton and Hobby Lobby. “We've tried to make size an advantage, have good economies of scale and be aggressive on our lease rate,” Turner says. The industrial buildings, rising at the Interstate 635-Belt Line Road junction, are tagged at $3.35 per sf with a $3 per sf finish-out allowance. Welton is getting 125 dock doors in the 32-foot clear height Point West VI cross-dock. Point West VII, also a 32-foot clear height, has 150 dock doors and 117 trailer spaces.

“Effectively, we're already 50% preleased and we're just now pouring concrete,” Turner says. “That's just a testament to the site.”