The owner of a rumored Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in the North Texas city of Hutchins set the record straight on whether it sold its building to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
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Majestic Realty Co., widely considered to be the largest privately held developer and owner of master-planned business parks in the U.S., released a statement denying it had sold or plans to sell a warehouse facility to DHS to use as an ICE detention center.
“While we were contacted about the potential sale of our building … Majestic Realty Co. has not and will not enter into any agreement for the purchase or lease of any building to the Department of Homeland Security for use as a detention facility,” the statement read.
Majestic still owns the property, it confirmed in the statement.
In January, multiple outlets reported that DHS had purchased the Majestic Realty-owned PointSouth Logistics & Commerce Centre Building 1, at 950 I-45 North, with plans to convert the 1M SF warehouse into a detention facility capable of holding approximately 9,500 people.
Many Hutchins residents, along with local politicians, voiced opposition to the proposed facility.
“The warehouses we have are for storage, not for holding people. It’s something we don’t need in our city and something we don’t want,” Mayor Mario Vasquez told WFAA.
The city’s leaders met in early February to discuss the proposal and hear concerns from the town’s residents. Mayor Pro Tem Steve Nichols said they had not been contacted by federal officials regarding a potential facility in Hutchins. As KERA reported, Nichols said local officials would continue to “act to protect community interest to the best of our abilities.”
Additionally, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, who represents Texas’ 30th Congressional District, where Hutchins is located, released a statement noting that her office had not received communication from DHS or ICE regarding the potential detention center.
“In the meantime, we have remained in close coordination with the City of Hutchins — including the Mayor, City Manager, City Council, and regional elected officials — to ensure a unified and informed response,” Crockett said in the statement.
Majestic Realty declined Bisnow’s request for further comment.
Around the same time the story regarding a potential facility in Hutchins was reported, owners of warehouses in Ashland, Virginia, and Oklahoma City canceled plans to sell their respective properties for use as detention facilities, echoing the growing public outcry against ICE.
Despite increased scrutiny, the Trump administration announced it expects to spend $38.3B to acquire warehouse facilities nationwide and convert them into detention centers under the ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative. This calls for large-scale facilities capable of holding 1,000 to 1,500 detainees at a time.
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