McCraney taps Cushman for County Line

The company behind one of the largest new industrial real estate projects underway in the Interstate 4 corridor has retained Cushman & Wakefield to lease and manage the 70-acre development.

McCraney Property Co. says it chose the commercial real estate brokerage firm for its 1.3 million-square-foot County Line Logistics Center in Plant City, because of its track record and the level of “imagination” the firm brings to its assignments.

“There's a value-add proposition to using a third-party broker on projects like this,” says McCraney Property President and CEO Steven McCraney. “We're now very focused on growing our platform, and so we made the decision to focus in on doing what we do best every single day, developing quality projects.”

Cushman & Wakefield directors Julia Silva Rettig, Jared Bonshire, David Perez and associate Jessica Mizrahi of the firm's Tampa and Orlando offices will work to lease the $80 million complex, the first phase of which — 293,280 square feet — is under construction on a speculative basis.

“We're very purposefully bringing our Orlando and Tampa resources together so as to cover the entire I-4 corridor,” Rettig says.

A second phase in County Line Logistics Center will contain up to 1.05 million square feet.

West Palm Beach-based McCraney and partner Northwestern Mutual are among a number of developers hoping to capitalize on the rise of e-commerce fulfillment and a lack of available distribution space in the I-4 corridor. Industrial vacancy in the corridor stands at 1.1%, McCraney notes.

In addition, Brennan Investment Group, TPA Group, Central Florida Development and Liberty Property Trust, among others, are proceeding with new industrial developments.