Exclusive: Biggest spec warehouse in 15 years to break ground near Tampa International Airport
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Dec 3, 2020

A joint venture partnership will break ground speculatively on a 245,000-square-foot industrial building near Tampa International Airport in 2021, adding much needed warehouse space to one of the region's tightest submarkets.

he partners, Scannell Properties and Hoover Development Partners, paid $4.8 million for the 20-acre site at Knox Street and Hoover Boulevard, which is within one mile of the airport's cargo entrance. The deal closed Nov. 12, and the developers are currently working through the permitting and entitlement process.

The warehouse, named TIA Logistics Center, is the largest speculative project in the airport submarket in 15 years, according to JLL Inc. (NYSE: JLL). JLL's capital markets team, led by Julia Silva, Luis Castillo and Cody Brais, arranged the joint venture partnership. Donamae Clinebell, vice president for Thomas D. Wood & Co., assisted with the land acquisition efforts.

It is the second speculative industrial project announced within the airport submarket in as many weeks. A Jacksonville developer is planning the 125,400-square-foot Airport Logistics Center on West Linebaugh Avenue, which will also break ground in 2021.

“Industrial last-mile and e-commerce demand has skyrocketed through the pandemic and the long-term outlook is very bullish on the sector,” Silva said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have brought together key industry veterans to create a strategic vision for this significant development site near the Tampa International Airport.”

JLL’s John Dunphy and Peter Cecora will market TIA Logistics Center for lease.

“The airport submarket is one of the best performing submarkets in the Tampa MSA because of its centralized location and close proximity to Tampa’s International Airport,” Cecora said in a statement. “The majority of current tenants are here on a long-term basis, so supply is limited. Given that, along with the fact that we haven’t seen a new development of this scale in more than 15 years, we anticipate strong demand once construction begins.”