First Industrial Starts $61M Philadelphia-Area Project

Image by Herbert Aust via Pixabay.com

First Industrial Realty Trust has commenced construction on a 358,000-square-foot industrial project situated within First State Crossing, a 425-acre master-planned development in Claymont, Del. The $60.5 million project is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2024.

The development team includes First Industrial’s Executive Director John Hanlon, Director of Development Jim Knopka, as well as Brandon Carney as construction manager. Blue Rock will serve as general contractor and Joseph Belluccia as principal architect. CBRE‘s Senior Vice Presidents Drew Green and Dan Rattay will provide leasing services.

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The new logistics facility will rise on a 28-acre lot that the developer purchased for $11.5 million, according to the Delaware Business Times. The seller of the parcel within First State Crossing is Commercial Development Co. The development site is part of the former steel mill on which the 3.8 million-square-foot master-planned community will be developed. Commercial Development Co.’s $500 million project will include office, retail, industrial and residential space, and is expected to significantly impact the Philadelphia area’s economy.

The rear-load building will include 40-foot clear heights, two drive-in doors, ESFR sprinkler systems, LED lighting, 68 dock-high doors, 289 vehicle parking spots and 238 trailer parking spots. The distribution center will be designed to accommodate both single and multiple users across various industries, while also being the first commercial component within First State Crossing, noted First Industrial’s Hanlon, in prepared remarks.

Located at 4145 Philadelphia Pike, the industrial development is situated close to interstates 495 and 95, 9 miles from Port of Wilmington, 12 miles from Philadelphia International Airport, 24 miles from Philadelphia and within 54 miles of Trenton, N.J. Being developed at the midpoint of the I-95 corridor, the future distribution center will allow easy access to Washington, D.C., New Jersey and New York City.

Strong market fundamentals, future projects

Philadelphia had one of the most active industrial pipelines in the Northeast in 2022, according to CommercialEdge data. The metro had 21.5 million square feet of space under construction at the end of November 2022, representing 5.3 percent of the existing stock. Between January and November of last year, project starts totaled some 17.7 million square feet of space, accounting for 82.6 percent of the under-development pipeline.

Multiple industrial projects have been announced since the start of 2023. In spring, Portman Industrial and D2 Organization kicked off a 587,500-square-foot warehouse project in Carney’s Point, N.J., expected to be delivered in early 2024, after announcing plans for three Class A buildings encompassing 586,000 square feet in the same area in January. With D2 Organization as owner and developer, Salem Commerce Park landed $61.1 million in acquisition and predevelopment financing.