Hillwood Grabs 600 Acres for More Alliance Infrastructure

FORT WORTH, TX—Hillwood, developer of the 26,000-acre master-planned AllianceTexas development, has acquired control of 600 acres of additional contiguous land strategically positioned in the center of its development. Located in the Alliance Westport sector along FM 156 between the Fort Worth Alliance Airport and the BNSF Railway Alliance Intermodal Facility, the new property increases Hillwood's future industrial development potential to more than 36 million square feet in Tarrant and Denton counties. It also enhances Hillwood's ability to offer large-scale logistics, manufacturing and aviation sites adjacent to the recently expanded runways at Alliance Airport.

“This is one of the most significant land acquisitions in the history of AllianceTexas,” said Tony Creme, senior vice president of Hillwood. “As Alliance Airport and the BNSF Railway Alliance Intermodal Facility continue to expand and strengthen the foundation for AllianceTexas' commercial growth, this new property in Alliance Westport will serve as a strategic link between these two pieces of critical logistics infrastructure and offer unparalleled connectivity to our customers.”

Alliance Westport is anchored by BNSF Railway's intermodal facility, which offers both domestic and international service options. It provides cost-effective and environmentally sensitive direct routes to Mexico, and expedited transit times to Los Angeles and Long Beach. BNSF Railway Alliance Intermodal Facility is currently operating at volumes comparable to some of the largest US ocean ports and considered to be one of the most significant inland port projects in the country.

“Alliance Westport is one of the nation's most strategic locations for international commerce and serves as a cornerstone for AllianceTexas' industrial development,” Creme tells GlobeSt.com. “The addition of 600 new acres will enhance the flexibility of Alliance Westport by offering more large-scale logistics and aviation sites with direct access to rail, highway and air shipping options, all within a one-mile radius.”

Fort Worth Alliance Airport recently completed its highly anticipated runway extension project at the north end of the industrial airport, which expanded both runways to 11,000 feet. As a result, Fort Worth Alliance Airport has increased its air cargo capacity by providing direct flight capabilities to major markets. The expansion also enables long-haul flights to take off with a full load of cargo while fully fueled in almost any type of weather condition.

Alliance Westport is already home to more than 8 million square feet of industrial and aviation development, including key logistics facilities for Amazon Air and UPS. The shipping capabilities of these hubs combined with immediate access to Interstate 35W and the FedEx Express Air and Ground hubs make Alliance Westport an attractive location for any manufacturing or distribution company focused on reducing supply chain costs and increasing speed to market. In addition, Alliance Westport offers access to the same workforce recruitment, training and retention resources that are currently available to all AllianceTexas companies through the Alliance Workforce Center and Tarrant County College's corporate training center and center of excellence for aviation transportation and logistics. Customers at AllianceTexas can also utilize the benefits of foreign-trade zones and on-site customs.

Hillwood recently announced that it will create the AllianceTexas mobility innovation zone by leveraging its multimodal development to launch a center of innovation that will be a global catalyst for the future of mobility. The company plans to collaborate with its anchor corporations, future customers, policy makers, regulators, entrepreneurs and academic institutions to develop a mobility innovation “do-tank” for partners to develop, test, scale and commercialize advanced mobility technology and business models. By providing the infrastructure for multi-modal transportation, AllianceTexas is positioned to support the testing of innovative aerial and surface technologies to move both freight and people within a self-contained environment.

As AllianceTexas celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, the expansion of Alliance Westport furthers Hillwood's proactive approach to growing the development in the wake of rapid land absorption through continued development. The new property will allow Hillwood to continue its aggressive speculative building program in the Westport sector, while also offering build-to-suit sites for its industrial and aviation customers with specific facility needs. Additionally, this acquisition marks a new wave of development adjacent to the exact location where AllianceTexas started 30 years ago.

Second quarter marks the 35th consecutive quarter of positive absorption for the Dallas/Fort Worth industrial market, according to a new report by CBRE. Industrial occupiers took down more than 8.7 million square feet in the first half of the year.

The industrial construction pipeline picked up during the quarter and was 23.5 million square feet at the end of second quarter, with a pre-committed rate of 42%. Construction starts during Q2 2019 totaled 5.3 million square feet, says CBRE.

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Lisa Brown is an editor for the south and west regions of GlobeSt.com. She has 25-plus years of real estate experience, with a regional PR role at Grubb & Ellis and a national communications position at MMI. Brown also spent 10 years as executive director at NAIOP San Francisco Bay Area chapter, where she led the organization to achieving its first national award honors and recognition on Capitol Hill. She has written extensively on commercial real estate topics and edited numerous pieces on the subject.