Activity points to growing importance of Metro East
Commercial real estate firm JLL today announced a national contract packaging company has signed a lease to locate at Gateway TradePort in Pontoon Beach, Illinois, taking up 217,000 square feet of the 543,227-square foot warehouse in Building 2. JLL, the firm exclusively hired to handle leasing for the industrial park, is also currently negotiating with another tenant to lease additional space in the park.
With a new tenant in the industrial park’s second building, NorthPoint Development has announced plans to begin construction on a third building starting in early 2021. Gateway TradePort 3 will have 624,000 square feet, 40-foot clear ceilings (only the second of its kind in St. Louis – Building 2 being the first), and 23-year tax abatement.
The quick leasing of Buildings 1 and 2 is further evidence of the growing interest in the park and within the Metro East submarket of the St. Louis region, according to JLL Managing Director David Branding.
“As a top 20 U.S. industrial market, St. Louis is following national growth trends as industrial real estate markets continue to accelerate in reaction to COVID-19. As work-from-home becomes the new norm, and stay-at-home orders increase, we’ve seen e-commerce, logistics, and consumer product companies with COVID-19 related products driving up demand in the Metro East and throughout St. Louis Metro. I expect these same companies to be a driving force for leasing volume throughout 2021.”
The industrial vacancy rate in the Metro East area is currently 5.7 percent, down from 7.8 percent in the first quarter of 2020. In the third quarter alone, more than 1 million square feet has been absorbed in this submarket.
Much of this interest has been fueled by booming e-commerce growth and the need to build “last-mile” infrastructure — distribution and warehouse centers that are strategically located to get products to customers’ doors as quickly as possible.
The 600-acre Gateway TradePort industrial park is ideally positioned, thanks to its proximity to major interstates. It is located at the intersection of I-270 and I-255, with fast access to Interstates 55, 64 and 70. The Metro East is also home to a high concentration of transportation and warehouse workers, and a lower average hourly starting wage than other industrial parks in the St. Louis area. An exclusive 23-year real-estate tax abatement period at Gateway TradePort provides added incentive for long-term tenancy.
Eventual plans for the park call for a total of 11 industrial buildings with a combined 7.8 million square feet. It’s the fifth, ground-up industrial development in the St. Louis market by NorthPoint Development.
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About JLL
JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specializes in real estate and investment management. JLL shapes the future of real estate for a better world by using the most advanced technology to create rewarding opportunities, amazing spaces and sustainable real estate solutions for our clients, our people and our communities. JLL is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $18.0 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 94,000 as of March 31, 2020. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com.