Scannell Completes 1st Building at Durham Industrial Park

July 17, 2024

Development Industrial News Raleigh-Durham More Southeast

Life Science Logistics fully occupies the property.

Scannell Properties has delivered the first building in its master-planned, seven-building Durham 85 Industrial Park in Durham, N.C., in the Research Triangle and has broken ground on a second building. The 249,000-square-foot newly completed building is fully leased to Life Science Logistics.

Scannell Properties has delivered the first building in its master-planned Durham 85 Industrial Park in Durham, N.C. *Image courtesy of Scannell Properties*

Durham 85 Industrial Park is less than a mile from I-85. Life Science Logistics is using the building for shipping and logistics for the pharmaceutical industry. The tenant is a specialist in pharmaceutical and medical device warehousing, fulfillment and stockpile management in 11 states, including North Carolina but also California, New York, Texas and Washington state.

The second building, also coming in at 249,600 square feet, is a speculative project. The rear-load structure will have a 32-foot clear height with 27 dock doors, and parking for 67 trailers and 222 autos. The building is slated for completion in late spring 2025.

The company has approvals on two more buildings at Durham 85 and is deliberating the timing of their groundbreaking.

Indianapolis-based Scannell is a privately held CRE development company with 13 regional offices in the U.S., Canada and Europe. It has completed projects for FedEx, Best Buy, GE, Nestle, General Mills and other national and global companies.

Research Triangle industrial development drops

Scannell’s second building will be one of a fewer number of spec industrial buildings in the Research Triangle market in the near future. Despite previous momentum, construction starts slowed considerably in the first quarter of 2024, Colliers reported.

Construction starts are being limited by the interest rate climate and other capital market considerations, so few speculative projects will be delivered in 2025, according to Colliers. With the drop, Raleigh’s industrial vacancy rate is expected to tighten again as demand persists.

The first quarter of 2024 ended with a 5.1 percent industrial vacancy rate in Raleigh’s core markets and 7.8 percent vacancy rate when including emerging submarkets such as Johnston County and the I-40/I-85 corridor, Colliers noted.