HanesBrands Inks Lease for 1.2M SF Warehouse in Ohio

Major apparel makers are continuing their trend of establishing large scale-distribution hubs. The latest to plant its flag is HanesBrands, which has inked a pre-lease for a new 1.2M SF industrial campus in Pickaway County in Central Ohio.

North Carolina-based HanesBrands, which owns brands including Hanes and Champion, has signed a long-term lease to occupy a new warehouse at VanTrust’s Rickenbacker Exchange in the village of Commercial Point.

The 1.2M SF industrial facility is the largest speculative industrial project in Central Ohio in 2022, according to CBRE.

HanesBrands will be the sole tenant at the warehouse, which is slated to open later this year. Hanes is upgrading its distribution network and chose Ohio to align operations with its customer base.

The warehouse to be occupied by Hanes, which broke ground in June 2021, is the second industrial facility at the Rickenbacker campus. VanTrust opened a 1M SF warehouse at the campus in May of last year.

VanTrust is planning to build two more warehouses on a 300-acre parcel at Rickenbacker, one that will encompass 1M SF and another that will span 860K SF. According to reports, Rickenbacker Exchange has lined up developers for another 600 acres at the complex.

Central Riverside County in SoCal’s Inland Empire has emerged as the epicenter of a growing logistics hub for the apparel industry.

Fast-fashion retailer Shein last month became the latest national apparel brand to disclose plans to occupy a mega-warehouse in the region. The City of Industry-based company will pre-lease space at a 1.8M SF distribution center under construction Cherry Valley.

The campus, developed by a joint venture of Shopoff Realty Investments and Artemis Real Estate Partners, includes two buildings, a 1M SF warehouse and an 811K SF industrial building.

Shein is the third apparel player to establish a distribution operation in Riverside County this summer.

In July, a joint venture of Trammell Crow and Clarion announced that two warehouses encompassing 1.1M SF under construction in the JV’s sprawling Knox Logistics Center have each been fully pre-leased to single tenants.

Apparel retailer Burlington Stores has signed a 410K SF lease to occupy all of Knox IV, while an identified logistics services provider has inked a deal to lease all of Knox III, a 693K SF facility.

Also, in July, USAA Real Estate and McDonald Property Group broke ground in Beaumont—about 30 miles northeast of Perris and just south of Cherry Valley—on a 1.8M SF manufacturing and distribution facility for NY-based United Legwear & Apparel.