Robinson Weeks Inks 185 KSF in New Leases at Atlanta Industrial Park

Gillem Logistics Center. Image courtesy of Robinson Weeks Partners

Robinson Weeks Partners has landed two new tenants at Gillem Logistics Center, an Atlanta industrial park that was converted from a former army base. The developer signed North Coast Logistics and hydroponic produce company Kalera to 184,670 square feet within Building 400.

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David Welch, Robinson Weeks’ CEO, told Commercial Property Executive that the 369,275-square-foot building was developed with concrete tilt-up construction, 32-foot clear heights and offers 203 auto parking spots and 65 trailer parking spaces.

Starting in October, North Coast Logistics will be taking 107,675 square feet in Building 400. Mark Kabat, North Coast’s vice president of business development, said in prepared remarks that the company will be kicking off its southeastern operations with its new location in Gillem Logistics Center. He added in his prepared remarks that the surrounding Forest Park area also offered an excellent labor force to build the new southeastern team.

Kalera signed a 76,995-square-foot lease in Building 400 to expand its vertical farm operations. The new Atlanta facility will create approximately 75 jobs for the area and will be the company’s third location in its portfolio, while more than doubling the size of its operations.

Welch told CPE that both North Coast and Kalera’s leases are between five and 10 years. The remaining space in Building 400 was being used by Kroger temporarily as the retailer increased operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, Welch told CPE. Other current tenants at Gillem Logistics Center include logistics company Kuehne+Nagel and engine manufacturer Cummins.

North Coast Logistics was represented by CBRE Atlanta’s Jacob Westfall and Kalera was represented by Lee & Associates’ Derek Riggleman and Trip Ackerman. John Gaskin, Robinson Weeks’ senior vice president of leasing and build-to-suit development, represented the landlord in both leases.

Army base conversion

Welch told CPE that Robinson Weeks got involved with the industrial park back in 2007 when the company was named the master developer for the land that was the former Fort Gillem Army Base. Welch added that Robinson Weeks constructed the first building in 2015 and has been developing roughly a building each year. While Building 400 is the industrial park’s fifth building, the developers also began construction on another 1 million-square-foot logistics building in Gillem Logistics Center in 2017.

At full build-out, the Gillem Logistics Center will reach more than 8 million square feet of Class A distribution and e-commerce space. The industrial park currently has more than 3 million square feet to deliver that will be spread throughout different multiple buildings.