J. Holmes Davis IV, senior vice president for Philadelphia-based Binswanger Corp., tells GlobeSt.com that an 82,574-sf lease by Packaging Corp. of America gets some, but not all, of the credit for investor interest in the distribution center at 1600 E. Plano Pkwy. The empty box, sitting on 26 acres along the President George Bush Toll Road, has been on the market for $19.5 million. A neighboring 10-acre tract is up for grabs too--at an extra cost.

The distribution center abuts the Lake Forest, IL-based Packaging Corp. of America's manufacturing plant. Stuart Smith, senior vice president in Dallas for Chicago-based UGL Equis Corp., says the leased space will be used as overflow storage for the corrugated box maker. He says the search began about six months ago for warehouse space closer to its factory at 1800 E. Plano Pkwy. than the 76,000 sf that it now leases at 808 Stewart Ave. The sweet spot is the new space, leased for five years, is right next door, he adds.

"There is hardly any warehouse space in Plano. Most of what's available is higher finish-type space," Smith says, faulting a zoning regulation with creating the submarket void. "True warehouse space is a relatively rare commodity because of the zoning issue."