Whirlpool Holding Firm to 852,000-SF Building

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FORT WORTH-Whirlpool Corp. has re-upped an 852,000-sf distribution center in Carter Industrial Park in South Fort Worth. The long-term renewal comes in the midst of a site search for Project Zenith, Whirlpool’s plan to build 8.5 million sf of industrial space in seven US cities.

The renewal for 1101 Everman Pkwy. went full circle in three months. “I think they’re still out looking for other facilities, but this one worked for them,” Walter Floyd, principal of NAI Huff Partners in Fort Worth, tells GlobeSt.com.

The 734,000-sf, rail-served distribution center, with an additional 118,000 sf of mezz space, has 38-foot clear heights, loading on three of four sides and a 150-space trailer storage area. Whirlpool inked the renewal without upgrades, save for some minor work to the truck court, as it marked the close-out of its second year in the space and a ticking clock on its lease term, according to Floyd.

The Benton Harbor, MI-based Whirlpool uses the 41.4-acre property as a distribution point for refrigerators and accessories made in Mexico. “We were glad to keep them as a tenant,” Floyd stresses. We hope they continue to prosper there. They’re doing quite well.”

Floyd and Trey Fricke, principal of Lee & Associates Dallas, represented the building owner, Hollingsworth Capital Partners of Clinton, TN, which bought the building in October 2006. William Swanson with Jones Lang LaSalle in Houston is Whirlpool’s tenant rep. Lease terms are locked down, but the going rate for comparable space is $3.25 per sf in the 950-acre park.

Meanwhile, Whirlpool has been hushed about its nationwide development contract with Sacramento-based Panattoni Development. Corp. The Dallas/Fort Worth component called for a pair of 750,000-sf distribution centers, but maybe one is all that’s now needed.