Liberty Property Trust Breaks Ground on 2 Industrial Assets

By Anca Gagiuc

Liberty Port Crossing Master Plan

Houston’s industrial market has had a great year so far, and it seems that the good run will continue. Adding to the market’s success is Liberty Property Trust which announced the groundbreaking of two more buildings at its Port Crossing Commerce Center.

“We’re breaking ground on two new buildings—a 600,000-square-foot industrial building at S. 16th Street at Wharton Weems Boulevard, and a 104,000-square-foot industrial building along Highway 146 near the intersection of Wharton Weems Boulevard,” Liberty Property Trust Vice President Hans Brindley said in a prepared statement. “Interest in the two buildings is very high; we expect to bring both online in the second quarter of 2018.”

Designed to achieve LEED certification

Building B2 will be a cross-dock distribution facility, encompassing 600,000 square feet. Features include 54-inch by 55-inch column spacing, 60-inch loading bays, 36-inch clear height and heavy trailer parking.

Building C4 will be a 104,000-square-foot, 32-inch clear rear-load building with visibility from and access to Highway 146.

Both facilities are designed to achieve LEED certification for energy and water efficiency, as well as Foreign Trade Zone designation.

“While we still have 50-60 acres available to develop, we are ahead of schedule in terms of our land take-down,” added Brindley. “We thought we would be looking at a five-plus-year horizon for completing the park, but now it appears we could be completing the park much more quickly.”

The company had acquired Port Crossing in 2015, during an oil slump. Despite the oil crisis, the park acquisition proved to be a robust industrial investment: Liberty reported a record-setting quarter for leasing in Houston, with more than 885,000 square feet in deals.

Image courtesy of Liberty Property Trust