Smolik brokered the deal along with TIG senior vice president Michael T. Grant on behalf of CBRE Investors, which manages the building for the owner, the State of Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend Division. He says the logistics company, which uses the building as its headquarters and primary distribution center, has been a tenant since the property opened in 1987. Smolik will not give the lease term but he mentions it is only the second renewal in 22 years and runs significantly longer than the standard five or seven years typical of most such transactions.

Smolik also will not release the rental rate, but he calls the offer of a second rail spur a "big carrot" in regard to the tenant's willingness to agree to a rate the landlord found acceptable. In general, he says, rents for large spaces in the particular submarket fall in the high $2-a-square-foot to high $3-a-square-foot range. Though the Forney Road building is older than many of its competitors, the TIG broker tells GlobeSt.com it can match them in functionality except for the smaller size of its truck court. The cross-dock facility offers 28-foot ceiling heights and 42 loading docks.

Furthermore, Smolik continues, the addition of the second spur, which will link to a Kansas City Southern Railway main line, gives the property superior functionality in terms of changes occurring in the logistics sector. "They wanted the extra rail because of what they're seeing in the future," he says. "They recognize that rail is going to play a much bigger role in freight transport in coming years due to environmental concerns."

In Smolik's opinion, the Dallas industrial market as a whole remains relatively healthy, with the 40 million-square-foot East Dallas/Garland submarket particularly strong. He says the submarket has a vacancy rate of about 12%.

Al Leon and Trip Leon of Leon Brothers Inc. in Dallas represented Shippers Warehouse in the transaction.

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