Transwestern JV to Build Central Florida Warehouse

October 25, 2021

This is one of the largest speculative developments of its kind in the state's history.

Trailhead Logistics Park. Image courtesy of Transwestern Development Co.

Looking to fill the needs of big-box users in Central Florida, a joint venture of Transwestern Development Co. and QuadReal Property Group is planning to build a warehouse in Ocala, Fla.

The joint venture will construct the 943,426-square-foot Trailhead Logistics Park with cross-dock design, tilt-wall construction, 40-foot clear heights, ESFR sprinklers, car parking and trailer storage. The 64-acre parcel where the warehouse will be built is located off of Interstate 75 and exit 341, placing it 15 miles south of downtown Ocala and connecting the site to other large Florida metros, including Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville. Construction is expected to start in November, with the warehouse expected to deliver in the fourth quarter of 2022. The development ranks as one of the largest speculative warehouses ever to be built in Florida.

Steve Kros, regional partner at Transwestern, said in prepared remarks that Ocala offers connectivity to Florida’s major highway and provides convenient access to the state’s 21 million consumers. Kros also said in his prepared statement that the warehouse will be an ideal fit for a company looking to expand its logistics operations in a market whose demographics can fill the labor requirements of a large distribution center.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Jared Bonshire, David Perez and Taylor Zambito alongside SVN Florida’s Bartow McDonald IV will be overseeing leasing efforts for the project.

In-demand industrial inventory

According to Transwestern, the Central Florida market has more than 260 million square feet of industrial inventory that’s occupied by a number of tenants including Amazon, Walmart, Dollar Tree, Ace Hardware, Chewy, Best Buy, Medline, Home Depot, PepsiCo, HCA Healthcare and Publix. The Central Florida region also saw 10.7 million square feet of positive net absorption in 2020 and saw its vacancy rate drop below 6 percent in the third quarter of 2021, Transwestern noted.

Catering to a strong demand for large warehouse and distribution space in Central Florida and beyond, Transwestern’s pipeline includes 34 industrial projects totaling 18.4 million square feet across the U.S., which are under construction or in the pre-development planning stages. Within the Southeast U.S. region, the company has more than 5 million square feet in its pipeline, including a four-building industrial park that totals 953,230 square feet in Atlanta. Outside the Southeast, Transwestern is also working with QuadReal on two industrial projects in the Inland Empire that started construction earlier this year.