"Dorel decided to establish an East Coast distribution model to complement our existing West Coast model," Tim Ferguson, a Dorel executive vice president, said in a release. The company manufacturers the Safety 1st, Cosco Juvenile, Quinny and Maxi-Cosi brands, as well as licensed brands including Disney and Eddie Bauer.
"High fuel costs, growing demand for our products in the eastern US, and ever increasing import volumes drove our interest in Savannah—and AMB Morgan Business Center was identified as the ideal site," said Ferguson. He added that the building's sustainability features were also attractive to the company.
Dorel also has expansion options for the remainder of the 347,000-sf building, says Charlie Fiveash, vice president of leasing and marketing director of the East Region for AMB. With the new tenant, Building 100 is currently 43% leased, and AMB is confident that it can bring the building to at least 80% next year, when it will start construction of Building 200, he says.
In total, AMB Morgan Business Center is set to include 3.3 million sf in four buildings—a project estimated at $175 million. Buildings 200, 300 and 400 are all scheduled as build-to-suit projects, and will be 270,000 sf, 1.3 million sf and 1.2 million sf, respectively. Leasing rates will range from $3.75 up to $4.25 net, says Fiveash.
"Leasing demand has come from the growth of the Savannah Port," he explains. "Companies in the supply chain are now looking at facilities closer to airports and seaports, particularly, as opposed to having central distribution centers." Big names like Pier 1 Imports, Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Lowe's have established distribution centers within a ten-mile radius of the port, says Fiveash, because of the its growth and massive import capabilities.
According to the Georgia Ports Authority website, Garden City Terminal at the Port of Savannah is the fourth-largest container port in the US and the largest single-terminal operation in North America. The port also plans to deepen Savannah's channel from 42 feet to 48 feet by 2010 in order to accommodate what it terms as "the next generation of deep-draft vessels."
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
