Lovett Industrial to Build 2.2 MSF Project Near Port of Virginia

Enterprise Logistics Park site. Image courtesy of Lovett Industrial

Houston-based Lovett Industrial is developing Enterprise Logistics Park, a 2.2 million-square-foot Class A business park on 328 acres in James City County, Va., that is expected to be the largest speculative industrial development completed on the I-64 corridor between Norfolk, Va., and Richmond, Va.

Groundbreaking for the initial phase could begin in the first quarter of 2024. The design of the first phase is currently underway. The development will accommodate a variety of buildings ranging from approximately 100,000 square feet to 1 million square feet aimed at attracting manufacturers, and warehousing and distribution companies.

Ben Swift, senior associate at Lovett Industrial, said in prepared remarks the logistics real estate investment firm is partnering with James City County and The Port of Virginia on the project. Further details on the public-private partnership were not disclosed.

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Enterprise Logistics Park site. Image courtesy of Lovett Industrial

The business park will be located on the primary transit corridor between The Port of Virginia and I-95. It will also have immediate access to I-64, where a substantial lane expansion project is underway. Planned infrastructure improvements will include a major collector road, which will enable efficient ingress and egress from the property. Major utility infrastructure is being added to the property to accommodate a variety of uses including manufacturing. Enterprise Logistics Park will have recreational, retail and convenience amenities that will benefit employees working within the park as well as others in the area.

Lovett acquired the site for $12 million, according to Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer. Geoff Poston and Ellis Colthorpe of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer, along with Kimber Smith and Janet Moore of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices RW Towne Realty handled sale negotiations on behalf of the unidentified seller. Poston and Colthorpe will exclusively be handling marketing and leasing services for the development.

Growing market

Swift said the Hampton Roads industrial market has some of the strongest fundamentals in the country. Noting The Port of Virginia has invested heavily to expand operations and capacity, Swift said the port upgrades combined with billions of dollars of infrastructure improvements expanding I-64 mean there will be future growth and strong demand for industrial space.

A first-quarter 2023 Hampton Roads industrial market report from Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer noted the post-pandemic era has seen growth spurred by global logistics providers in the region. Prior to 2020, there was no speculation construction underway in the market, but market fundamentals now support spec industrial development. Overall asking rents increased 24.7 percent year-over-year and rose 6.5 percent since the end of 2022. Direct rents have climbed 52.0 percent since the beginning of 2020. In the first quarter, an 814,105-square-foot spec logistics center was delivered in Suffolk, Va., according to the report. A 373,536-square-foot spec project in Williamsburg, Va., is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter. Beyond those projects, the majority of additional product in the market will not be delivered until 2024 and 2025.

Lovett properties

Enterprise Logistics Park is the third land acquisition in the Mid-Atlantic made by Lovett. The firm currently owns 377 acres across the Northeast that could support about 2.6 million square feet of industrial space. Lovett recently acquired and currently operates Middlebrook Crossroads, an 18-building portfolio of warehouses in Bridgewater, N.J. Lovett is active in seven additional markets across the U.S. and has approximately 7 million square feet of projects under construction companywide.

In November, Lovett broke ground on Innovation Ridge Logistics Park, a 1.1 million-square-foot industrial business park with three Class A spec buildings in Forney, Texas. The project, funded by a $66.7 million construction loan, is expected to be delivered by September and is one of four projects in the Greater Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Lovett is active in three other Texas markets, with projects in Houston, Austin and San Antonio, which along with its presence in DFW, add up to a pipeline of 3 million square feet in future developments and 4.2 million square feet underway. The company currently has 11 active projects in the Texas region.