We corralled a few of the top industrial fellas last week at the ULI North Texas conference last week: Majestic Realty Cos Al Sorrels, Colliers Internationals Allen Gump, Hillwoods Steve Aldrich, and TIG founder/CEO John Walsh. Al says the civil engineer is your best friend again because its important to know early on what it will take to make a project work. As the demand for 1M SF buildings grows, the ideal locations have already been snapped up. All the flat easy sites are gone, so having a civil engineer that can tell you what a site is going to need to develop is crucial. (Bet you regret not inviting that civil engineer to your birthday.)
Weeks Robinsons Marty McFarland (right, with CBREs Steve Berger) says the DFW industrial market is one of the top four in the US (Baltimore/NJ, Inland Empire, and Chicago are the other three), but there are three development challenges right now: 1) The frenzy for 1M SF properties requires 70 acres and more; 2) If construction costs too much, you cant pay the seller what he wants; 3) Retailers don't want some of these sites in rural South Dallas because there are no amenities nearby.
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