108-acre buy marks developer's entry
Nashville Business Journal - by Richard Lawson
A Sacramento, Calif.-based industrial developer is making its initial push into the Nashville industrial market by buying 108 acres that Memphis developer Weston Cos. was close to purchasing.
Panattoni Development Co. expects to complete its purchase of the land in Smyrna on Aug. 30. The site sits at Interstate 24 and Almaville Road, the last exit before state route 840.
The developer plans to begin building right away. "We're going to start immediately on a 250,000 speculative building," says Ron Colter, who is heading up the company's operations in the Nashville area.
Ultimately, 1.85 million square feet of industrial space can be built on the site.
Panattoni has developed more than 40 million square feet of industrial space in 45 cities across the United States. It specializes in build-to-suit projects in which it constructs buildings to meet specific needs of a client.
The developer's client list includes Hewlett-Packard and Procter & Gamble.
"These guys are major industrial players," Colter says.
Colter previously was Weston's senior vice president in Nashville. He joined Panattoni on Aug. 18, nearly two and half months after Weston decided not to pursue the project.
He had approached Panattoni after it looked like the developer was serious about pursuing the project. Colter says the company showed its seriousness when it got the final site plan for the development approved in Smyrna last month.
"I just needed something else to do," he says. "(Panattoni) didn't have a partner here and I wanted to develop the project."
Colter will have an ownership stake in the project but declined to disclose how much.
Weston put the land under contract in July 1998. Colter helped get the land rezoned for industrial use and get it annexed into Smyrna.
"They were on the 5-yard line and didn't push it into the end zone," says Chance Allen, who owns his own real estate firm, LaVergne Chance Allen & Associates.
He is co-brokering the land, owned by Mary Jane Nix, with John A. Thweatt Co. in Nashville.
Weston passed on the project in May. "They never really gave a reason other than to say it wasn't timely," Allen says.
Weston officials couldn't be reached for comment. Local real estate officials say the developer may have decided it had more than enough on its plate in Memphis to begin developing another site in the Nashville area.
The company developed the Northfork Industrial Park in Goodlettsville, north of Nashville along I-65. The park currently has about 300,000 square feet. It is the company's only industrial development in the Nashville area.
Panattoni had been looking in the Nashville market for a few years but never found a site it wanted. The developer stepped into a great situation in which Weston had done most of the work preparing the site for development.
This meant the developer could move quickly. "They are starting at the 5-yard line and are going to push it into the end zone," Allen says.
Richard Lawson can be reached at 615-248-2222, ext. 109, or by e-mail at (rlawson@amcity.com).
Latest News |
Most Viewed Stories |
Most Emailed Stories |
