DEAL OF THE WEEK

Former chemical plant site to become industrial park

Avera Cos. will build a railserved industrial park for logistics and distribution just outside Pasadena in the Bayport Industrial District, adding an estimated 2.4 million square feet of space to the southeastern industrial submarket, the Houston-based developer said.

Avera has acquired development rights to a 143-acre parcel from an undisclosed partner who owned the land for about 10 years. The tract once hosted a chemical plant that was removed in 2009. It sits directly south of a 40-acre lot already owned by Avera.

Tentative plans for the 190-acre Bayport Logistics Park call for six buildings, from 570,000 square feet to 180,000 square feet in size, with three facilities served by Union Pacific Railroad.

Located near the Barbours Cut and Bayport container shipping terminals, the new park will allow for development of distribution and logistics space, which has been booming in Houston in recent years.

“There’s a lack of available railserved land sites on the south of the Ship Channel and we looked to capture interest from tenants because of that,” Avera CEO and president Trey Odem said.

Odem predicted the new space will be occupied by companies that package and export plastic resin pellets. The plastics industry has benefited from the shale boom, which supplied an abundant source of raw material, and the oil slump, which dropped prices.

The vacancy rate for rail-served warehouse space in the southeastern submarket is virtually zero, and Port Houston has said that almost all demand was driven by plastic resin packaging.

Avera said it plans to break ground on two buildings in the northern portion of the park within the next 30 days.

A first-quarter 2017 market report by CBRE showed 4.3 percent vacancy in the southeastern industrial submarket, or 3.5 million square feet. Of the 2.4 million square feet Avera plans to add, almost half will be rail-served.