EJF, North Signal to Build 3 Warehouses Near Savannah Port

Port of Savannah, Ga. Image courtesy of the Georgia Ports Authority

EJF Capital and North Signal Capital have closed on a $75 million senior construction loan provided by Bank OZK to develop three Class A warehouses totaling 1.3 million square feet at RiverPort Commerce Park in a Qualified Opportunity Zone in Hardeeville, S.C., located less than 10 miles from the Port of Savannah, Ga.

EJF and North Signal formed a joint venture in March 2019 to purchase and develop the 510-acre industrial park within the master-planned RiverPort property. To date, the venture has completed and fully leased four distribution warehouses totaling 1.3 million square feet and serving nine tenants. The property has a capacity for more than 4 million square feet of distribution and manufacturing space.

Of the three new buildings planned, Building 7 will be the largest at 791,000 square feet. The cross-dock building is slated for completion at the end of this year. Building 6 will have 405,000 square feet and is a single-load facility that is expected to be finished in the third quarter. Building 5, a 127,000-square-foot rear-load facility, is also planned for completion in the third quarter of this year. All three are designed to allow multiple tenants to begin operating quickly and will include warm-shell features such as speculative offices, dock packages and motion-sensor LED lighting.

READ ALSO: Trends That Will Shape Industrial Real Estate in 2023

Located in western Jasper County along Highway 17, it is less than 10 miles from the Garden City Terminal at the Port of Savannah. The site is closer to the port than many industrial parks on the Georgia side and allows easy access to Interstates 95 and 16.

Asheel Shah, senior managing director & head of real estate development at EJF Capital, said in a prepared statement RiverPort has been an ideal location for tenants who need to store and transport goods at a strategic location. He said the strength of the port is its proximity to I-95 and I-16.

Tom Moore, managing director of originations at Bank OZK, said in prepared remarks the large-scale industrial development will further strengthen RiverPort Commerce Park’s position as a regional distribution hub due to its convenience and accessibility.

Peter Goulding, founder & partner of North Signal Capital, said in a prepared statement they are excited to continue expanding in RiverPort Commerce Park with the financing provided by Bank OZK. He said the additional warehouses will provide convenient truck and port access to businesses not only in the Southeast, but the entire country.

Growing port

The fastest growing container terminal in the U.S., the Port of Savannah handled a record 5.9 million 20-foot equivalent container units in 2022, a 5 percent increase over 2021. The port achieved four of its top five months for container volumes in 2022, with trade volumes peaking in August at an all-time high of 575,000 TEUs, according to the Georgia Ports Authority.

Infrastructure projects underway will help deliver even greater capacity and efficiency. GPA Board Chairman Joel Wooten said in a prepared statement the improvements will provide faster vessel service, quicker turn times for trucks and more room to grow business.

GPA is renovating Berth 1 at Garden City Terminal to handle 16,000 + TEU vessels and is also expanding the 90-acre Garden City Terminal West and transitioning the Ocean Terminal to an all-container facility. In all, those improvements should enable the Port of Savannah to increase annual capacity from 6 million to 7.5 million TEUs in 2023, and to 9 million by 2025.