Zeigler and Thomas Homco, with Lee and Associates' St. Louis office, represented Panattoni in the transaction. Ryan Keiser, with the Dallas office of CB Richard Ellis, and Tim Convy with the St. Louis office of CB Richard Ellis, represented the tenant. The deal is one of the largest industrial transactions in the St. Louis submarket so far this year. The transaction amount was not disclosed but the value of the property is estimated at between approximately $30 million and $31.5 million, based on other recent investment sales in the area, Zeigler tells GlobeSt.com.

World Wide occupies a 513,000-sf facility in an adjacent business park, Zeigler says. "They really could not easily expand," he says. The company was also able to obtain more incentives at the III building, he says. The new 700,000-sf cross-dock distribution facility will have a 32-foot clear height and trailer storage. The building will have about 10,000 sf of office space with the rest of the space used for warehousing, distribution and technology integration.

The building is in an enterprise zone with a 10-year tax abatement program, in addition to other state incentives, Zeigler says. The asking lease rate was $3.35 per sf, triple net, he says. The operating expenses are between 35 cents and 40 cents per sf, compared to buildings in the St. Louis area where they are between $1.20 and $2 per sf, Zeigler tells GlobeSt.com. The facility is expected to be complete by December. Gray Design is the architect for the project and Regions Bank provided financing.