MINNEAPOLIS—The Twin Cities' industrial market continues impress. The sector has seen its vacancy rate fall below 5%, and users are clamoring for more space. Duke Realty has just become the latest owner to announce a major expansion for one of its tenants. Officials from the REIT recently said that it will expand the 150,064-square-foot, build-to-suit warehouse it delivered for Blu Dot, a designer and distributor of modern home furnishings, in May 2015 by 116,200 square feet.

They will build the expansion on land adjacent to Gateway North 6301, Blu Dot's existing building within Gateway North Business Center in suburban Otsego, and raise the distributor's total leased space within the center to 266,264 square feet. Construction will begin in July with completion slated for January 2017.

“When we developed Blu Dot's original 150,000-square-foot building last year, we set aside 5.95 acres adjacent for expansion,” says Josh Budish, vice president of leasing and development for Duke in Minneapolis. “We are pleased that their ongoing growth and satisfaction with their current facility have given us another opportunity to deliver quality space for them and their operations.”