ProLogis Plans 599,500-SF Distribution Center

ATLANTA-ProLogis global distribution center developer with a portfolio of 217 million sf in 1,716 properties in 73 markets, has filed preliminary development plans with Henry County officials for the construction of a 599,500-sf center at Greenwood Industrial Parkway and GA 155 south, the county confirms to GlobeSt.com.

The county, however, can’t act immediately on the proposal because of its size, staffers tell GlobeSt.com. The Atlanta Regional Commission and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority classify the project as a development of regional impact which requires detailed data showing the venture won’t adversely affect the area, staffers say.

Besides the distribution center, Aurora, CO-based ProLogis plans additional smaller structures on the 32-acre site, according to its plans. If approved, the project could break ground this year and be completed in 2006, the company tells local government officials. Area construction industry estimators tell GlobeSt.com the center’s hard cost could come in at $50 per sf, or a total $30 million.

Area industrial brokers familiar with the planned development site tell GlobeSt.com ProLogis is expected to pass the approval process, particularly since the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority both approved a comparable 1.6-million-sf distribution center expansion in April for DSC Logistics (Dry Storage Corp.) of Des Plaines, IL. The DSC center is near the ProLogis site.

The planned center will reinforce ProLogis presence in the metro Atlanta distribution center market, area brokers tell GlobeSt.com. For example, in the biggest industrial deal of 2002 in metro Atlanta, ProLogis bought 1.1 million sf of distribution center space in eight buildings at four major Atlanta business parks for an estimated $77 million, or about $70 per sf, GlobeSt.com previously reported. The seller was AEW Capital Management of Boston.

Two months earlier, in February 2002, ProLogis acquired a 22-year-old, 159,607-sf warehouse/distribution structure in the Fulton County submarket from locally based Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Inc. for $3.25 million, or an average $20.36 per sf.