IDI Explodes

IDI’s merger with Verde in October nearly doubled its presence here overnight, but it’s not slowing down. Senior leasing rep Ben Newell tells us IDI has 609k SF delivering in the next few months, which’ll bring the firm’s local portfolio to 1.3M SF. On top of that, it can develop 856k SF more on 53 acres it already owns across town. (Hope you enjoyed your last vacation, Ben—with all this space to pre-lease, you may never get another one.)

The rundown: IDI’s first Houston development, Greenspoint Business Center, has two buildings totaling 351k SF delivering in April, bringing the property to 760k SF. There’s room for another 54k SF rear-load and 345k SF cross-dock facility when those buildings lease up. The firm just delivered two 129k SF facilities in Central Green, bringing that project to 516k SF. In December, it fulfilled its years-long dream of finding a Northwest Houston site, purchasing 11 acres at West Little York and Bingle to build West Little York Distribution Center. IDI’s planning a 153k SF building there (rendered below), which will go in for permit in a month or two. Last but not least, it’s planning a 160k SF rear-load facility at Interwood.

Ben tells us he inked six leases totaling 220k SF in Houston last year, and with so much more product, he’s expecting some huge numbers in 2014. He’s particularly seeing foot traffic in the 20k to 75k SF space. (The average user has grown from only a few years ago, when 50k SF was the bulk of activity.)