December 3, 2008

Logistics real estate: Allen Group to host Bridge Terminal

Transport container yard at Dallas Logistics Hub

By Jeff Berman

DALLAS—Commercial real estate developer The Allen Group said this week it has executed a lease with Bridge Terminal Transport (BTT) in whichBTT will develop a build-to-suit container yard at the Dallas Logistics Hub (DLH).

BTT is a maritime container hauler that covers major U.S.-based port locations and inland rail sites andalso provides global container services, agency, logistics, and terminal activities. The DLH is a 6,000 acre multi-modal logistics- and manufacturingfocused industrial park, which is being developed byThe Allen Group. It is the largest new logistics park currently under construction in North America. Allen Group officials said that with this move BTT will relocate their container yard operations from an existing facility near the Love Field Airport to a DLH site within the City of Hutchins. They added that will close proximity to Union Pacific’s Dallas Intermodal Terminal (DIT) and Interstate 45, the container yard will store inbound and outbound containers transferring through DIT, as well as chassis and trailersfor customers.Construction for the new container yard is underway, and it is expected to be completed by February 2009.

In an interview with LM, Daniel J. McAuliffe, president of the Allen Group’s Texas operations said that based on company information the UP DIT is operating at approximately 350,000 lifts, with the ability to operate at 385,000 and expand to 685,000 with some physical and operating changes.

With the addition of DDT into the fold, McAuliffesaid that the proximity of the DLH location to the UP DIT is attractive to shippers because “by choosing this location they can better service their customers’ needs and decrease the drayage costs.”

Another benefit of this new container yard, explained McAuliffe, is that it is will be the first storage facility within the DLH that will allow foraccessible integration between the DIT and distribution customers in and around the logistics park.

When asked if there are future plans for any other marine container haulers to take up residence at the DLH, he said that the Allen Group is currently in discussions with several other operators considering opportunities at the DLH, some as small as ten acres and others are more than 50 acres.

The DLH, which had an official groundbreaking ceremony for its first two industrial buildings in November 2007,is master-planned for the potential development of 60 million square feet of vertical logistics and manufacturing space. Along with Union Pacific’s intermodal facility, it is adjacent to the BNSF rail line, major highway connectors—I-20, I-35, I-45 and the proposed Loop 9—and Lancaster Airport, which is in the master stages to facilitate cargo distribution. DLH development is part of four cities in Texas: Dallas, Lancaster, Wilmer, and Hutchins.