Firm plans 1.2 million-square-foot distribution complex

One of the nation's leading industrial real estate developers has begun constructing a new 337,447-square-foot distribution facility in Tampa on a speculative basis.

Duke Realty's Tampa Regional Industrial Park project comes as demand for industrial space in the Interstate 4 corridor between Tampa and Orlando has surged and vacancy has fallen to a historic low.

The building, part of a three-building plan totaling 1.2 million square feet in a 117-acre business park, is expected to be completed next July.

It is located roughly 1.5 miles from Interstate 75 and about 15 miles south of Interstate 4.

In addition to having a clear ceiling height of 32 feet, the building also will offer storage for 101 trailers, 264 adjacent parking spaces, a high-tech ESFR sprinkler system and access to a CSX Corp. railway line.

“It's going to be state-of-the-art, with all the features that we think tenants today are looking for,” says Tim Perry, Duke Realty's vice president of leasing. “We're hoping we're in the right place at the right time.”

The Tampa Regional project marks the latest in a series of Gulf Coast developments for Indianapolis-based Duke Realty. The company previously built the Eagle Creek Business Center and the Fairfield Distribution Center, both in Tampa. Together, those two projects total 1.2 million square feet.

Duke Realty has retained Newmark Grubb Knight Frank's Senior Managing Director Rick Narkiewicz and the firm's Bobby Sampson, in Tampa, to lease the Tampa Regional property, Perry says.