Waters Ridge Attracts Two Big Industrial Leases

Waters Ridge attracts two big industrial leases USCO to hire 75 employees at new space in Lewisville Amanda Bishop, Staff Writer

LEWISVILLE — USCO Distribution Services is expanding its local operations with a 135,000-square-foot lease at Waters Ridge Distribution Center. The Kentucky-based provider of third-party logistics, will hire 75 people to handle shipping for the Waco operations of Allergan Inc., a California-based manufacturer of eye-care and skin-care products with revenue of $1.3 billion. Allergan is freeing up warehouse space in Waco for manufacturing, said USCO marketing director Jim Bierfeldt. USCO signed a five-year lease at Waters Ridge and plans to begin operations in Lewisville in August. Gary Lindsey with Grubb & Ellis Inc. represented USCO in negotiations. Most of Allergan’s products will be shipped from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. A carrier has not been selected. USCO will also hire a trucking company to ship for its client. “We will determine the need and match that with the best carrier,” Bierfeldt said. Panattoni Hillwood Development Co. is the developer of the 400,000-square-foot Waters Ridge Distribution Center, which is currently being expanded to 600,000 square feet. USCO already ships materials for several clients from a 250,000-square-foot warehouse at 2271 French Settlement Road in Dallas. The 32-year-old privately held company has 41 warehouse operations in the United States and Mexico. Revenue last year was $112 million, Bierfeldt said. The company employs 1,500 in the United States. Major clients include Glaxo Wellcome Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc., Nortel Networks Corp. and Roche Holdings Inc. USCO chose Waters Ridge because Lewisville offers triple Freeport exemptions, Bierfeldt said. In triple Freeport areas, companies are exempt from city, county and school district taxes if goods are shipped out of state within 175 days. USCO considered both Carrollton and Coppell before selecting Waters Ridge, said Tal Hicks, a principal with Panattoni Hillwood. The USCO lease is one of two large leases inked by Panattoni Hillwood Development Co. for Waters Ridge Distribution Center. Lewisville-based L.D. Brinkman and Co., represented by broker Bill Rafkin, also signed a leased for 109,000 square feet in the same building. Tom Lynn of the Robert Lynn Co. represented Panattoni Hillwood in negotiations with both USCO and L.D. Brinkman. L.D. Brinkman already occupies about 300,000 square feet of space at Waters Ridge. The new space will be used to expand operations, Hicks said. Privately held L.D. Brinkman is a wholesale floor distributor. The 39-year-old company had $378 million in revenue in 1998 and employs 1,500, according to Hoovers Inc. The $20 million Waters Ridge Distribution Center is Panattoni Hillwood’s first speculative building at Waters Ridge. The company is adding 200,000 square feet to the building for a total of 600,000 square feet. “We started a month ago to add the space,” Hicks said. “We were anticipating signing these leases, so we went ahead and got started.” Lease negotiations with both USCO and L.D. Brinkman took about 90 days, Hicks said. Several pending deals could absorb the rest of the space and another building is being planned, he added. Rent at Waters Ridge Distribution Center is $3.20 triple net. A 5% discount on tenant finish-out is also offered.