If Aaron Paris has his way, drivers
accustomed to seeing the brands of
national hotels and restaurants along U.S.
highways soon will recognize another
brand LogisCenter.
DP Partners, the big Reno-based developer
of industrial properties, said last week
it's begun construction on the first of its
properties to carry the trademarked
LogisCenter brand - the 200-acre
LogisCenter at Carlisle near Harrisburg in
central Pennsylvania.
Paris, the executive vice president and
chief operating officer of DP Partners, said
the time is right for a nationally branded
network of distribution and industrial
properties.
Most of the companies that lease from
DP Partners are national outfits with multiple
locations.
The LogisCenter brand, he said, is
intended to give DP Partners a head
start in leasing as potential tenants recognize
the name and the sorts of properties
it represents.
Like other properties that will carry the
LogisCenter brand, the Pennsylvania center
will be big.
The first building covers 800,000 square
feet, and it's only one of five structures DP
Partners plans at the site.
The building is the largest spec building
ever undertaken by DP Partners. The company
will invest more than $20 million in
the structure, Paris said, along with several
million more dollars in the infrastructure
that will serve the entire property.
A wide paved corridor with a middle
turning lane will run through the park.
Plenty of staging area is provided for
semi-trailer trucks to maneuver. The property
will fully be landscaped and include
curbs and gutters.
Just as important, Paris said, is the
location of the Pennsylvania property and
others that will carry the LogisCenter
brand.
Good access by highway, air and intermodal
transport to serve nearby markets is
critical. Factors ranging from labor costs
to haul rates get a look before DP
Partners takes on one of the projects.
That analysis, Paris said, recognizes the
fact that real estate accounts for only
about 10 percent of the supply-chain costs
of its tenants.
In fact, he said, the choice of the
LogisCenter name also is intended to
remind employees of DP Partners that
they're in the logistics industry, rather
than the real estate business.
While DP Partners is undertaking
LogisCenter at Carlisle as a speculative
project, Paris said the company is confident
it can lease the space.
"I'm amazed at the response we've gotten
already," he said. "We've had tremendous
response."
The company plans to build a
LogisCenter at Las Vegas, with details to
be announced this autumn, and is studying
possible location of another facility in
Founded 42 years ago, DP Partners
has a portfolio of nearly 20 million square
feet across the nation. It's one of the
largest industrial developers in the United
States. Capital for its projects come from
partners that include the California Public
Employees Retirement System and the
investment house of Lazard Fre'res & Co.
