SOUTHAVEN, Miss. – In the latter part of first quarter of 2006, Hillwood will open three buildings totaling more than 1.7 million square feet at its DeSoto Trade Center development in Southaven, Mississippi. In addition to two speculative buildings, Hillwood will construct an 865,120 square-foot build-to-suit for Kuehne + Nagel, one of the world’s leading logistics services providers. The sites for all three buildings are in Foreign Trade Zone #262 and located on the west side of Interstate 55 just south of Turman Drive.
The two speculative buildings are DeSoto Trade Center 3, a 552,000 square-foot facility with cross-dock configuration and clear height of 32 feet, and DeSoto Trade Center 4, a 301,000 square-foot facility with front-load configuration and clear height of 30 feet.
Kuehne + Nagel will employ 200 in its new facility, which will serve as a distribution center for various customers to all regions of the United States. The company expects to be operational by June 2006.
“This is an ideal location for Kuehne + Nagel because of the ‘campus feel’ and quality of the business park, and the convenience to the transportation hubs in Memphis,” said John Frick, executive vice president of Kuehne + Nagle, Inc. “Being in a Foreign Trade Zone also will allow us to market that advantage to our customers.”
Hillwood was represented by Dan Wilkinson of Collier Wilkinson Snowden, Richard Burnette of The Burnette Company and T. Preston Herold of Hillwood. Kuehne + Nagel was represented by Bob Hutson, Patrick Burke, and Matthew Ware of CB Richard Ellis.
Desoto Trade Center currently consists of two completed buildings totaling just over 1.2 million square feet, a 1.2 million square-foot distribution center, which Hillwood is developing for Helen of Troy, and 515 acres for additional industrial development. The 668-acre DeSoto Trade Center has the capacity for 16 buildings totaling more than 11 million square feet.
“Being able to attract a global leading logistics provider like Kuehne + Nagle says a lot about the advantages of operating in DeSoto Trade Center,” said Preston Herold, marketing director for Hillwood Investment Properties. “Hillwood would like to recognize the city of Southaven, DeSoto County and the State of Mississippi for their hard work and incentives that helped complete this deal.
“The two speculative buildings will allow Hillwood to immediately accommodate deals ranging from 50,000 square feet to 550,000 square feet, as well as to meet the needs of users looking for either cross-dock or front-load distribution space.”
With around 24,000 employees at 620 locations in 98 countries, the Kuehne + Nagel Group is one of the world’s leading logistics companies. Its strong market position lies in the seafreight, airfreight and contract logistics businesses with a clear focus on providing IT-based supply chain management services and comprehensive lead logistics solutions. For more information, please visit http://www.kuehne-nagel.com/.
Located on the west side of Interstate 55 between Church Road and Star Landing Road, DeSoto Trade Center provides outstanding access to Interstates 55 and 40; is within 10 miles of the FedEx hub and the UPS center at Memphis International Airport; and is close to the Memphis rail yard. As the largest suburban area of Memphis, DeSoto County also offers a large labor base. The development also presents low operating costs due to its location in Foreign-Trade Zone #262, the low cost of real estate in the area, as well as aggressive incentives and streamlined approval processes offered by the city of Southaven, DeSoto County, and the State of Mississippi.
Hillwood, a Perot company, is ranked as one of the top commercial real estate developers in the country and the top residential developer in Dallas-Fort Worth. The company’s developments currently house facilities for 79 companies listed on either the Fortune 500, Global 500 or Forbes List of Top Private firms. Hillwood is best known for its development of the 17,000-acre AllianceTexas development, located 15 miles northwest of DFW Airport; the $420-million American Airlines Center and Victory district near downtown Dallas; and AllianceCalifornia, the 2,000-acre logistics center near Los Angeles.
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