DSC Partners, Hourigan Break Ground on Major Richmond Project

Deepwater Industrial Park. Image courtesy of DSC Partners and Hourigan

Groundbreaking and preleasing have begun for the first phase of Deepwater Industrial Park, a 110-acre industrial park in Richmond, Va., where joint venture partners DSC Partners and Hourigan are planning to build 1.4 million square feet of speculative industrial space.

READ ALSO: Hines Global Picks Up DC Office Building

The construction news comes as DSC Partners, a real estate investment company focused on acquiring value-add properties in the Mid-Atlantic region, formed a joint venture with development firm Hourigan to recapitalize the industrial park.

Led by CEO Mark Hourigan, the firm, which has offices in Richmond and two other Virginia cities, acquired the former Alleghany Warehouse Co. property in December 2017. Hourigan will develop and construct the entire industrial park, including additional buildings, over the next three years. Phase One is slated for completion in the second quarter of 2022.

The first phase will feature a 560,000-square-foot building, including a cross-dock warehouse, 42 dock-high loading doors and two drive-in doors. The asset will also include ample car parking, trailer drops and customized office space. Deepwater Industrial Park features redundant electric substations and other utilities to handle a full range of industrial and distribution users.

Opportunity Zone Development

Deepwater Industrial Park is located in a designated Opportunity Zone established under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The site, located at 3021 Commerce Road, is 2.2 miles from the Richmond Marine Terminal, 4.4 miles from downtown Richmond and has frontage on Interstate-95.

Nick Smith, co-founder of DSC Partners with Douglas Donatelli, referred to the Opportunity Zone status and location when commenting on the joint venture. He said in a prepared statement that the Washington, D.C.-based firm was pleased to contribute to the acceleration of the economic vitality of the region by supporting the development. Smith said DSC committed to the recapitalization because of the strong demand for industrial properties and Richmond’s close proximity to major Mid-Atlantic transportation hubs.

Rob Dirom, a senior vice president at Colliers International, and Joe Marchetti Jr., a managing director, are the leasing team for the project.

Dirom said in prepared remarks they are seeing unprecedented interest from industrial developers in land sites in and around the entire Richmond MSA. He said population growth models and increasing demand from occupiers is driving the intensity.

JLL’s Industrial Insight Richmond report for the first quarter of 2021 stated preleasing for speculative deliveries climbed from 11.1 percent to 49.1 percent in the first quarter, with nearly 3.7 million square feet of spec product expected to deliver by 2022. More than 1.7 million square feet of industrial space was under construction in the first quarter and total vacancy in the market was 3.4 percent, according to JLL.