The partnership talks were originated by Pax Glenn of Paxon Glenn Commercial in Dallas. "He thought we'd be a good match," says Jeff D. Thornton, senior vice president of the Dallas operations for Indianapolis-based Duke. The land fronts Texas 664, a four-lane artery intersecting Interstate 35. Duke's new development site is less than one mile east of the interstate interchange. It's also bisected by Omaha-based Union Pacific Corp.'s main line leading to its intermodal yard in the Dallas Logistics Hub.

Thornton tells GlobeSt.com that Duke has a one-year purchase option to the site, but spec or a build-to-suit before the clock stops is practically a certainty. "I think we'll find someone before a year's up," he says. "It might not be 1.2-million-sf deal, but I think we'll find a 400,000-sf to 500,000-sf deal by then." GSR Andrade Architects of Dallas is site planning and designing the space. A quoted rate hasn't been set, but Duke's typical bulk rate is $3.25 per sf plus $3 per sf for tenant improvements.

Thornton says the strategy is to draft off the Nafta Highway trade corridor, exactly as Duke did in the northern tier of Dallas County. The dwindling close-in land supply logically has forced developers toward the outer rings to find cheap dirt. In Red Oak's corridor, land hovers $1.50 per sf.