Source: Phoenix Business Journal
By: Audrey Jensen
Following the completion of a Frito Lay distribution facility, a new logistics park in the West Valley has landed other major tenants with even more on the way. Texas-based Frito Lay was the first tenant to move into the Peoria Logistics Park at 75th and Northern avenues, which helped attract another major user — Trader Joe’s.
“As soon as Frito Lay selected this site it kind of planted on everyone else’s radar because they are such a great name brand and gave that comfort level to companies like Trader Joe’s,” said Jenna Borcherding, senior director of development for VanTrust Real Estate, the master developer of the park.
Trader Joe’s acquired 16 acres for a new 155,000-square-foot cold storage distribution center just south of the Frito Lay building. Trader Joe’s paid $7.1 million in cash for the site, county records show. California-based Trader Joe’s was searching Valley-wide for a new location and ended up choosing the Peoria park because of its central location and the ability to design its own facility.
“They were looking in the southeast Valley when they caught wind of Peoria Logistics Park,” Borcherding said. “Our whole marketing approach has been a build-to-suit park so you can come in and spec what you need.”
The developer sold the site to Trader Joe’s in December and the facility is now under construction with an estimated delivery date at the end of 2024. It’s being developed by IDS Real Estate Group. John Werstler, Cooper Fratt and Tanner Ferrandi of CBRE Group Inc. are the leasing brokers for the Peoria Logistics Park. East of the distribution centers, VanTrust also sold off about 20 acres of land to Younger Brothers Cos., a truss and door manufacturer that currently has headquarters south of the site. The company paid $7.5 million for the property in all cash.
More on the horizon for industrial park
VanTrust is now in the process of developing two speculative industrial buildings in the park totaling 210,000 square feet. VanTrust is in the preliminary design phase for the speculative buildings, which will total 90,000 square feet and 110,000 square feet. The buildings are expected to break ground in the fourth quarter. Although the buildings are currently speculative, Borcherding said they’ve been working with potential tenants on early designs for the facility.
“It could easily turn into a build-to-suit based on the activity we have,” she said. “We feel pretty good about the buildings and those size ranges because that’s where all the tenant activity is.”
South of this, VanTrust is under contract to sell about 80 acres of remaining land in the industrial park to an undisclosed data center company, Borcherding said.
If it moves forward, this could be Peoria’s first data center development. The sale for this could be completed by the end of 2024. This will also mean that VanTrust has built out its entire 150-acre logistics park, which Borcherding attributes to company’s flexibility in working with potential users.
“There’s plenty of industrial development that have speculative plans, but I feel like we captured this nice little window of being able to carve out parcels of land for those tenants that want to control their destiny and build specific to their needs,” she said.
She also recognized VanTrust’s partnership with CBRE and the city of Peoria in the project’s success. Other industrial projects in the works in Peoria includes Peoria Place by Greystar, which is developing 400,000 square feet of industrial space alongside housing, and the $2 billion Amkor semiconductor packaging and assembly plant. VanTrust acquired 108 acres of the remainder of the industrial park in December for nearly $15 million, according to county records. Cohen Asset Management acquired the 157,554-square-foot Frito Lay distribution center about a year ago from VanTrust for $28.6 million.
