Transwestern Enters into JV, Plans Expansion into Mexico

 By Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor

Larry Heard, Transwestern

Transwestern Development Co. is expanding its industrial development platform in the United States and Mexico through a joint venture with Chicago-based Ridge Property Trust.

Known as Ridge Development, the joint venture will provide full industrial development services for Houston-based Transwestern, its clients and financial partners. The JV will focus on the development of warehouse, distribution and manufacturing facilities as well as the acquisition and development of green-field properties and redevelopment of existing buildings and brownfield sites.

Ridge will target opportunities in core markets near large population centers and major transportation hubs throughout North America, including adding an office in Mexico City. It will also allow Transwestern to expand into additional cities in the Northeast, Southeast and Pacific Northwest. The combined venture of Transwestern Development and Ridge already have offices in Atlanta; Chicago; Dallas; Houston; Los Angeles; McAllen, Texas, and Monterrey, Mexico.

The JV will be lead by Jim Martell and Dennis Rice, principals from Ridge Property Trust, who have more than 60 years of experience in industrial development.

“Transwestern is pleased to strengthen its industrial development platform with Ridge, which will expand and enhance the services we provide clients,” Larry Heard, CEO of the Transwestern family of companies, said in a news release. “Jim, Dennis and the Ridge team will meet the growing demand for bulk warehousing and industrial facilities in key logistics markets with multiple transportation linkages.”

The combined teams of Transwestern Development and Ridge have been involved in the development, construction and management of more than 138 million square feet of industrial and distribution space throughout the U.S. and Mexico.

Ridge Property Trust is a private REIT formed between Ridge Investors, L.L.C. and Prudential Real Estate Investors that specializes in industrial development, investment and financing. Through its JV with Transwestern, Ridge will have access to market intelligence, product sourcing and fully integrated property services in 34 U.S. markets.

For Transwestern, the joint venture is another expansion of its industrial services. In mid-January Transwestern acquired Epic Realty Partners, a leading industrial real estate group in the metropolitan Chicago area. Epic’s 20-member team completed 225 transactions in 2013 totaling 9.2 million square feet with a value of $216.7 million. The acquisition put Tranwestern among the top five industrial real estate providers in the Chicago region and made it easier for it to service its growing industrial client base.

Transwestern has been adding new markets and services in recent years. The firm moved into Boston in September with the acquisition of local market leader Richards Barry Joyce & Partners. Transwestern has had an international platform through its alliance with BNP Paribas Real Estate and last year began investing in Latin America.