Betting on e-commerce's same-day delivery race, developer plans big spec warehouse in Lakeland
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 15, 2015

A Chicago developer has closed on a 46.5-acre site in Lakeland where it plans to begin construction on a speculative 245,000-square-foot warehouse within the next month, targeting large distributors and e-commerce operations.

Ridge Property paid $2.67 million for the site, which is at the intersection of U.S. Highway 92 West and Wabash Avenue in Lakeland, about 1.5 miles from Interstate 4's Exit 28 - not far from Publix Super Markets Inc.'s distribution center.

The site is entitled for two 245,000-square-foot warehouses, and the first is expected to be completed by the end of 2015, said Lisa Parks Abberger, a commercial broker with Hauger-Bunch Inc.. Abberger represented the sellers in the transaction, 40 Acre Corp. and JK Properties.

Ridge will begin construction on the second warehouse when the first is 50 percent occupied, Abberger said. Julian Brown, a senior vice president with Transwestern Co., represented Ridge. Julia Rettig, a industrial broker with Cushman & Wakefield of Florida Inc. in Tampa, will market the property for Ridge.

The vacancy rate in Lakeland's industrial property is less than 5 percent, which puts among the most highly occupied markets in the country. When there's that little space, developers will typically pursue construction on a speculative basis, because that level of occupancy indicates extremely high demand. "The increase in e-commerce is really putting this central location on the map," Abberger said of Lakeland, "and nationally we're getting attention."

Lakeland's location in Central Florida puts it in prime position to capitalize on e-commerce distributors and their same-day delivery race. Abberger said the site is within 60 miles of 6 million people and within 100 miles of 8 million people.

"You can service the state of Florida within a day," Abberger said. With 74 dock doors and 45 trailer parking spaces for each building, Ridge is targeting large distributors, Abberger said, but is also willing to divide the building to accommodate smaller tenants as well.

Ashley Gurbal Kritzer is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.