AMB Property Corp. completed construction of the first building in Savannah's AMB Morgan Business Center, which ultimately will have more than three million sf of distribution space. Crews wrapped work on a 347,000-sf building that is the first spec industrial project in the Southeast built to standards for LEED silver certification. "There has been a significant gain in containerized cargo through Savannah, especially from Asia," says AMB chairman and CEO Hamid Moghadam. "the Port of Savannah experienced a 20% increase in containers handled in calendar year 2007."

The development marks the San Francisco-based REIT's entry into the Savannah market, but it's part of a broader strategy to that targets major metropolitan areas close to airports and seaports. "Our customers are looking for logistics and distribution real estate that is synergistic with their own sustainability initiatives that maximize operational efficiencies," explains Moghadam. "We are developing that for them here at the fastest growing seaport in the United States."

Meanwhile, Indianapolis-based Duke increased its local holdings to nearly six million sf with the $30 million purchase of a 285,000-sf building in Crossroads Business Park near Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport and a 504,000-sf fully occupied distribution center in the 270-acre port officials plan to invest $111 million to prepare for future growthInterstate Centre, an industrial park about 30 miles west of Savannah. The company entered the market two years ago with the $194.6 million acquisition of an 18-building portfolio totaling 5.1 million sf.