A 131,718-square-foot speculative industrial project is currently under construction in Laredo.

LAREDO, TX—With a shortage of class-A industrial sites here, the timing is right for a 131,718-square-foot speculative industrial project that is currently under construction. The property was developed by Dallas-based Gulf Corporation and is being constructed by Park Avenue Construction.

The property is expected to be complete in first quarter 2020.  The class-A industrial development is located along the Interstate-35 frontage.

First vice president Joshua Aguilar and Rob Burlingame with CBRE are marketing the property on behalf of the landlord, TW Laredo I LLC, an entity of Tailwind Real Estate Equities.

“This new development from Gulf Corporation will provide users in the market with a much needed, top-of-the-line space that is suitable for a wide variety of uses including logistics, distribution and manufacturing,” says Aguilar.

There will be 4,000 square feet of ground-floor office space, a 1,000-square-foot second-story warehouse office, 32-foot clear height, 46 dock-high doors, two ramped doors, LED warehouse lighting and ESFR fire protection. In addition, this facility will provide ample parking with 73 trailer parking spaces and 60 employee parking spaces.

“It is a great location with convenient access to I-35 in an incredibly strong market,” says Wynn Searle, executive vice president of development at Gulf Corporation. “We strongly feel this will be one of the best properties coming on line in Laredo next year which will offer an excellent opportunity for the future tenant.”

Aguilar concurs as to the industrial demand evident in Laredo, saying the current availability for class-A industrial sites here is extremely low.

“Heavy demand for space in Laredo continues, particularly with those seeking more efficient space. Particularly we are seeing requests for better clear heights, ESFR fire protection, heavy trailer parking, etc.,” Aguilar tells GlobeSt.com. “The lack of supply and limited new construction has caused users to get more aggressive when taking down space to keep up with the competition.”

Industrial absorption climbed out of negative territory and into a more familiar place this quarter, with a strong 2.9 million square feet of industrial space absorbed in Houston during second quarter 2019, according to a report by CBRE. Moreover, vacancy jumped 10 basis points to 5.5%.

Record-breaking under-construction totals were reported this quarter, with 20.5 million square feet of industrial product currently underway in Houston, being the highest quarterly number ever recorded by CBRE Research. Specifically, 11.2 million square feet of new industrial product broke ground this quarter, which brings the year-to-date total up to a solid 13.6 million square feet.

Continued job and population growth, a growing e-commerce enterprise and heightened activity in the Port of Houston are driving demand for industrial space across the Houston metro, says CBRE.