CHICAGO / FORT MYERS, Fla. (October 22, 2024) — A venture of Glenstar Logistics and Columnar Investments today announced it has sold Tri-County 75, a 72-acre, four-building industrial park in Fort Myers, Fla., to an undisclosed buyer. Completed in October 2023, the 818,000-square-foot industrial campus at 6115-6150 Tri-County Commerce Way is 95% leased. CBRE arranged the sale, which closed on Oct. 21.

“We identified the strong demand for industrial in Southwest Florida, secured an ideal land site and developed speculative warehouses with an ‘end-user first’ approach,” said Brian Netzky, principal of Chicago-based Glenstar Logistics. “As a result, we quickly leased the buildings to Fortune 500 and fast-growing local firms seeking easy access to Interstate 75 and Southwest Florida International Airport. With this sale, we achieved our development goal for Tri-County 75 and delivered excellent returns for our investors.”

The park’s rear load and cross-dock facilities range in size from 76,210 to 404,050 square feet and feature best-in-class specifications with concrete tilt-up construction, 32- to 36-foot clear heights, 142 trailer parking spots, large truck courts, abundant trailer stalls and easy highway access.

The firm tapped Netzky’s 30 years of expertise as a tenant broker to develop the industrial facilities from the tenant point of view. “We laid out the park in an ideal configuration for e-commerce, logistics, distribution and light to heavy industrial production,” Netzky said. “We also incorporated abundant outdoor space for storage and maneuverability, knowing these features are in high demand.”

When Glenstar broke ground on the park, Southwest Florida’s industrial vacancy rate stood at 1% and has since risen to 6.4%, mainly due to the increase in deliveries from 650,000 square feet in the first half of 2022 to 1.2 million square feet in 2024, according to Colliers.

Tenants at Tri-County 75 include Ferguson Enterprises, a national distributor of plumbing and HVAC supplies; a Fortune 500 beverage company; Orlando, Fla.-based Mechanical One, a home repair and maintenance company; NB Handy, a Virginia-based distributor of metals, HVAC, commercial roofing and machinery products; Coldest, a Florida-based manufacturer of water bottles and other related products; and a Fortune 500 company that is a provider of large third-party logistics.

“Tri-County 75 is an outstanding example of our investment strategy of taking well-located, unentitled land in a growth market from a greenfield site to delivery of a best-in-class product. We are thrilled to have worked with a first-class development partner in Glenstar Logistics”, said Matthew Omundson, Managing Director of Columnar.

Strategically located for last-mile distribution at the southeast corner of Interstate 75 and Luckett Road, Tri-County 75 is within a two-hour drive of 4.4 million people. The industrial park is a 12-minute drive from the Southwest Florida International Airport, 33 miles north of Naples, Fla., and 73 miles south of Sarasota, Fla.

Southwest Florida has a population of 1.5 million, which has increased 9.5% since 2020 and is expected to increase another 7.4% by 2029, according to the Lee County Economic Development Office. This growth puts further strain on the industrial market as demand has increased for same/next-day delivery.

“Not only is Southwest Florida one of the most rapidly urbanizing metropolitan areas in the state of Florida, but it is also the most underserved logistics market, with only 40 square feet of industrial space per capita,” said Jose Lobón, vice chairman with CBRE National Partners.

Lobón, along with vice chairmen Frank Fallon and Trey Barry and Vice President Royce Rose, represented the seller in the transaction. The team was assisted by Kris Courier, senior vice president, and Rian Smith, first vice president, with CBRE Industrial Leasing, and Gabriel Braun and Daniel Sarmiento, financial analysts with CBRE National Partners.

Ware Malcomb served as project architect for Tri-County 75, while DeLisi Fitzgerald was the civil engineer. The Naples-Fort Myers office of Lee & Associates oversaw leasing.

With a bullish outlook for industrial in the U.S. Southeast, Glenstar Logistics is nearing completion of the first of five buildings at its new 290-acre Cherokee Commerce Center 85 (CCC-85) development in Gaffney, S.C., adjacent to Interstate 85 in upstate South Carolina’s Cherokee County industrial corridor. The cross-docked 550,520-square-foot warehouse is being built on a speculative basis, with the flexibility to expand to 1.3 million square feet. Potential uses include warehousing and distribution, food processing, assembly/light manufacturing and refrigeration/cold storage. The building will feature 40-foot clear heights, 56-feet-by-50-feet column spacing, 60-foot speed bays, up to 232 dock doors, four drive-in doors and abundant flexible parking while accommodating up to 100MW of power within 3 years. Upon full buildout, the park will total up to 3.6 million square feet.

About Glenstar Logistics: 

Glenstar Logistics, the industrial arm of Glenstar, develops and invests in state-of-the-art warehouse, distribution and manufacturing facilities primarily in the southeast region of the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, Glenstar Logistics leverages decades-long relationships with local brokers, logisticians and end users to provide a unique insight on key factors tenants evaluate when making site selections. With 400+ acres currently under control, the team combines decades of real estate experience and proprietary third-party data analytics to direct every aspect of the development process with the end user in mind.

About Columnar Investments

Columnar is a vertically integrated real estate investment and development company which sets itself apart from its competitors by having the capabilities in house to take a piece of land from greenfield through vertical construction.  A close-knit team of managers and engineers have decades of experience in all facets of the complex development process including land entitlements, zoning, infrastructure improvements, master-planning, lot development, ground-up construction and development.  Currently, Columnar is busy developing over 4,000 acres of land including 3,500 single-family lots, 3,000 multifamily units, 5 million square feet of industrial distribution, and over 2 million square feet of retail and medical uses, across 5 states in the Sunbelt.  Additionally, Rockwell Homes, an affiliate, is building single-family home across Florida and Texas.  Columnar has family roots in Traylor Construction Group, a third-generation, family owned heavy civil, marine, and industrial contractor founded in 1946. 

About CBRE Group, Inc.

CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2023 revenue). The company has more than 130,000 employees (including Turner & Townsend employees) serving clients in more than 100 countries. CBRE serves a diverse range of clients with an integrated suite of services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.

Glenstar Logistics today announced it has signed three new tenants for space totaling 192,990 square feet at Tri-County 75, a 72-acre industrial park developed by Glenstar Logistics and Columnar Holdings in Fort Myers, Fla. Spanning 816,866 square feet across four buildings, the new industrial campus at 6115-6150 Tri-County Commerce Way completed construction in October 2023 and is now 64% leased.

The three leases include a Fortune 500 beverage company; Orlando, Fla.-based Mechanical One, a home repair and maintenance company offering electrical, gas, HVAC and plumbing services to new home builders; and NB Handy, a Virginia-based distributor of metals, HVAC, commercial roofing and machinery products.

“This tremendous level of lease activity reflects not only the increase in companies seeking to establish or solidify their presence in Southwest Florida but also the constrained supply of modern industrial space in this market,” said Brian Netzky, principal of Glenstar. “We continue to see strong interest in Tri-County 75 among fast-growing local and national firms that appreciate the development’s access to Interstate 75 and Southwest Florida International Airport. These companies are also attracted to the park’s large parcels of modern, new-construction warehouse and distribution space that can be customized to their needs.”

The Fortune 500 beverage company leased 56,705 square feet in Building 2 at Tri-County 75 for regional distribution purposes. This is the third Fortune 500 tenant at the industrial campus.

“Three Fortune 500 companies choosing to locate at Tri-County 75 is a great testimony to the park’s ideal configuration for e-commerce, logistics, distribution and light to heavy industrial production as well as its location for quick deliveries of products to the entire Southwest Florida region,” noted Netzky.

The 67,620-square-foot lease in Building 3 signed by Mechanical One represents an expansion to Fort Myers for the company which opened its doors in July 2021. As one of Florida’s largest privately held companies, the new space will be used to warehouse supplies for its new operations in Fort Myers.

NB Handy leased 68,665 in Building 2 of Tri-County 75 to support its expansion in Florida, where it also has a location in Davenport. In addition to warehousing steel, roofing and HVAC products for distribution, the space will also include a 1,500-square-foot showroom for clients.

Another 215,000 square feet of space is expected to execute shortly, to two undisclosed tenants.

Bob Johnston of The Naples – Fort Myers office of Lee & Associates brokered the three leases on behalf of ownership. Tri-County 75’s general contractor, The Conlan Company, will be building out spaces for all three tenants.

In the lease transactions, Ben Kuykendall at First Capital Property Group, Inc. was the tenant broker for Mechanical One; and Danny Holly and Shawn Stoneburner at Cushman & Wakefield represented NB Handy.

Additional tenants at Tri-County 75 include Coldest, a Florida-based manufacturer of water bottles and other related products, which leased 52,866 square feet of warehouse and office space in Building 4 in October 2023; a Fortune 500 company that is a provider of large third-party logistics (3PL), which signed a 22,784-square-foot industrial lease at Building 4 in October 2023: and Ferguson Enterprises, a national distributor of plumbing and HVAC supplies, which signed a 252,860-square-foot lease in November 2022, and relocated its regional distribution center to Building 3 of the campus last fall.

The 296,000 square feet of remaining space available includes the 76,210-square-foot Building 1; 90,930 square feet within Building 2; 83,720 square feet in Building 3; and 45,307 square feet in Building 4. The space within Buildings 1 and 2 is divisible. Building 2 and 3 offers abundant trailer parking and/or outdoor storage, while Building 3 also allows for a user to fully secure the outdoor space.

“We understood the critical need for outdoor space when developing the site,” explained Brian. “Tri-County 75 offers a rare opportunity for those seeking tenancy in the Ft. Myers market.”.

Located at the southeast corner of Interstate 75 and Luckett Road, Tri-County 75 boasts excellent highway visibility and traffic counts that exceed 95,000 cars per day. The park’s rear load and cross-dock facilities feature clear heights up to 36 feet, large truck courts, abundant trailer stalls and easy highway access. The new industrial park is a 12-minute drive from the Southwest Florida International Airport, 33 miles north of Naples and 73 miles south of Sarasota. The Tri-County area has 1.2 million residents and a workforce of more than 500,000.

Ware Malcomb is serving as project architect for Tri-County 75, while DeLisi Fitzgerald is the civil engineer. The Naples – Fort Myers office of Lee & Associates is overseeing leasing.

About Glenstar Logistics: 

Glenstar Logistics, the industrial arm of Glenstar, develops and invests in state-of-the-art warehouse, distribution and manufacturing facilities primarily in the southeast region of the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, Glenstar Logistics’ leverages decades-long relationships with local brokers, logisticians and users to provide a unique insight on key factors tenants evaluate when making site selections. With 400+ acres currently under control, the team combines decades of real estate experience and proprietary third-party data analytics to direct every aspect of the development process with the end user in mind.

Glenstar Logistics and its capital partner Creek Lane Capital have officially started construction on the first phase of the 3.6 million-square-foot Cherokee Commerce Center 85 (CCC-85) near the intersection of Interstate 85 and Highway 105 in Gaffney, S.C. Site work and mass grading for the 290-acre business park in Upstate South Carolina is already underway, and the development team expects the first speculative building to start going in Q2 2024.

Representatives from Chicago-based Glenstar Logistics and Creek Lane Capital joined elected local officials and project partners earlier today at the ceremonial groundbreaking for CCC-85’s first building, which is scheduled to deliver in late 2024.

The flexible warehouse under construction is a cross-docked 555,520-square-foot facility expandable to 1.3 million square feet with 40-foot clear heights, 56-feet-by-50-feet column spacing, 60-foot speed bays, up to 232 dock doors, four drive-in doors, 540 auto parking spots and 452 trailer spaces. John Montgomery, Garrett Scott, Brockton Hall and Dillon Swayngim of the Spartanburg office of Colliers are marketing the building on behalf of ownership.

“Projects like Cherokee Commerce Center 85 meet an enormous need for high-quality industrial facilities along fast-growing logistics corridors,” said Brian Netzky, principal of Glenstar Logistics. “The rapid increase in the number of electric vehicle, battery and semiconductor factories in the Southeast makes it critical for warehouse and logistics businesses to expand and expedite delivery capabilities to quickly ship parts and materials to these manufacturers. Modern facilities with high clear heights, abundant dock doors and trailer parking are essential for these factories to be successful in fulfilling their contracts.”

In addition to the first building, CCC-85 is slated to include four additional warehouses measuring 1.65 million, 252,270, 278,200 and 211,640 square feet, to meet demand for modern industrial space along I-85 between Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., and Charlotte, N.C. According to Netzky, possible uses for the mid- to bulk-size space at CCC-85 include distribution and warehousing, food processing, flex/light industrial, light manufacturing, logistics or refrigeration/cold storage.

“Working with pro-business Cherokee County officials, we have a long history of helping tenants and owner/occupiers secure economic incentives to maximize ROI,” said John Montgomery, managing director of Colliers. “We also fast-track occupancy so future tenants of CCC-85 can start shipping their products within a week of lease signing.”

Located at a four-way I-85 interchange, CCC-85 is 33 miles from the BMW Group Plant Spartanburg, 38 miles from Inland Port Greer in Upstate South Carolina and 45 minutes from Charlotte MSA. From CCC-85, tenants can reach 100 million consumers within a one-day drive.

The Conlan Company is serving as general contractor, while Ware Malcomb is responsible for the project design and SeamonWhiteside is managing civil engineering. CrossHarbor Capital Partners supplied $32.8 million in construction financing.

About Glenstar Logistics 

Glenstar Logistics, the industrial arm of Glenstar, develops and invests in state-of-the-art warehouse, distribution and manufacturing facilities primarily in the southeast region of the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, Glenstar Logistics leverages decades-long relationships with local brokers, logisticians and end users to provide a unique insight on key factors tenants evaluate when making site selections. With 400+ acres currently under control, the team combines decades of real estate experience and proprietary third-party data analytics to direct every aspect of the development process with the end user in mind.

About Glenstar:

Glenstar is a Chicago-based national commercial real estate firm focused on ground-up industrial development through its Glenstar Logistics division as well as the development of reimagined office and multifamily properties. Founded in 2004 by Michael Klein, along with Rand Diamond, Glenstar has successfully developed or redeveloped more than $2 billion in commercial space comprising 10 million square feet across the U.S. Its nimble, tenant-focused approach and vertically integrated structure allow Glenstar to not only pursue and execute opportunistic projects, but also oversee and manage them seamlessly. 

About Creek Lane Capital:

Creek Lane Capital is a Chicago-based real estate private equity firm founded in 2016 by the Walsh Family. The firm combines its founders’ 125 years of experience in the construction industry with an institutional quality management team to invest in a variety of real estate asset classes and markets throughout the United States. Creek Lane Capital invests alongside its developer partners on an opportunistic basis. However, it has the flexibility to take a long-term view of its investments in order to capitalize on the income and appreciation benefits of owning a portfolio of high-quality real estate on behalf of its investors.

Glenstar, a national commercial real estate developer with a concentration in industrial, announced today it has secured $38.2 million in construction financing from CrossHarbor Capital Partners to build the first phase of a 3.6 million-square-foot industrial park in Gaffney, S.C. Developed by Glenstar and its capital partner Creek Lane Capital, the five-building, 290-acre Cherokee Commerce Center 85 (CCC-85) will be located northeast of the intersection of Interstate 85 and Highway 105 and will be Cherokee County’s largest-ever industrial park upon completion.

Glenstar will now begin sitework in preparation for the first building, slated to span 555,520 square feet but expandable to 1.3 million square feet. This first phase is an example of Glenstar’s Spec-to-Suit^TM strategy, which allows it to meet customized tenant needs on an expedited timeline. This flexible building, known as 2A, will offer a cross-docked orientation, with up to 232 dock doors, four drive-in doors, 540 auto parking spots and 452 trailer spaces. Completion is slated for fall 2024.

“We’re pleased to bring our collective experience to this project and partner with such a strong development team,” said Matt Klein, Director, CrossHarbor Capital Partners. “Cherokee Commerce Center off I-85 is in one of the fastest growing transportation and logistics corridors in the US.”

Subsequent phases will potentially include four additional warehouses measuring 1.65 million, 252,270, 278,200 and 211,640 square feet, helping to meet demand for modern industrial space along the industrial corridor between Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., and Charlotte, N.C. The facilities will feature best-in-class specifications, such as 40-foot clear heights, 56-feet-by-50-feet column spacing and 60-foot speed bays.

“This ideally located park will meet suppliers’ and manufacturers’ ongoing need for Class A industrial space with easy access to the Inland Port Greer and the Port of Charleston,” said Glenstar Principal Brian Netzky. “We’re already receiving interest from companies that support production facilities in the Southeast such as electric vehicle, battery and semiconductor manufacturers.”

The industrial submarket of Cherokee County is home to a 1.4 million-square-foot distribution facility shared by DHL Supply Chain and Mann+Hummel, a German manufacturer of filtration systems, as well as a 1 million-square-foot Techtronic Industries facility and a 1.5 million-square-foot Dollar Tree distribution center.

“Cherokee County is a hotspot for industrial development as vacancy rates remained at less than 1% at the end of the second quarter,” said Netzky. “The county has a growing population and a vast pool of quality-trained assembly and fabrication laborers, which draws users from across the country.”

According to Colliers, the Cherokee submarket has 11.6 million square feet of industrial space and recorded a 0.52% vacancy rate in Q2 2023, well below the national average. The report also cited several reasons for South Carolina’s growth, including significant investments in the interstate system, the Port of Charleston and the Inland Ports as well as a business-friendly regulatory environment, low unionization rate and abundant labor supply.

“CCC-85 represents Glenstar’s bullish outlook on manufacturing and distribution hubs in the Upstate as well as throughout the Southeast,” said Netzky.

CCC-85 is conveniently located at a 4-way I-85 interchange 33 miles from the BMW Group Plant Spartanburg, 38 miles from Inland Port Greer in Upstate South Carolina and 45 minutes from Charlotte MSA, one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. From CCC-85, tenants can reach 100 million consumers within a one-day drive. Tenants and owner/occupiers will also have access to meaningful state (and county) incentives to help fund the cost of locating or expanding in the region.

The Conlan Company is serving as general contractor, while Ware Malcomb is the architect for the project and SeamonWhiteside is the civil engineer. The project will be leased by John Montgomery, Garrett Scott, Brockton Hall and Dillon Swayngim of the Spartanburg office of Colliers.

About Glenstar:

Glenstar is a Chicago-based national commercial real estate firm specializing in industrial development, reimagined office and multifamily properties. Founded in 2004 by Michael Klein, along with Rand Diamond, Glenstar has successfully developed or redeveloped more than $2 billion in commercial space comprising 10 million square feet across the U.S. Its nimble, tenant-focused approach and vertically integrated structure allow Glenstar to not only pursue and execute opportunistic projects, but also oversee and manage them seamlessly.

About Creek Lane Capital:

Creek Lane Capital is a Chicago-based real estate private equity firm founded in 2016 by the Walsh Family.  The firm combines its founders’ 125 years of experience in the construction industry with an institutional quality management team to invest in a variety of real estate asset classes and markets throughout the United States.  Creek Lane Capital invests alongside its developer partners on an opportunistic basis.  However, it has the flexibility to take a long-term view of its investments in order to capitalize on the income and appreciation benefits of owning a portfolio of high-quality real estate on behalf of its investors.

About CrossHarbor Capital Partners:

Founded in 1993, CrossHarbor Capital Partners is a leading real estate investment manager offering a multi-strategy investment platform providing investors with broad access to opportunities across property types, geographies, and the capital structure.  With a $29 billion investment track record, the firm currently has $8.7 billion in assets under management in several investment programs along the risk-return spectrum.  Through its nation-wide, relationship-driven origination platform, disciplined investment approach, and highly experienced team of professionals, CrossHarbor seeks to generate consistent, risk-adjusted outperformance while focusing on capital preservation. In 2009, CrossHarbor acquired the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, Montana out of bankruptcy proceedings, turning it into one of the world’s premier destinations. Its subsequent Big Sky investments are managed through its subsidiary, Lone Mountain Land Company. CrossHarbor is based in Boston with offices in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. For more information, please visit www.CrossHarborCapital.com.