by Brianna Crandall — January 14, 2015—International real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) announced in recent weeks the sale of Cedar Crossing, a 10,897-acre industrial park near Houston, Texas. According to the firm, the transaction represents one of the single largest land sales in the history of the Houston area. C&W represented the seller, Cedar Crossing L.P., a partnership of area investors managed by Charles Iupe. The size of the property sold is said to be equal to three-fourths that of New York’s Manhattan Island.
The C&W team of Kelley Parker, John Littman, Coe Parker and Tim Thomas handled the marketing and sale of the site. Mr. Parker’s 24-year experience with marketing the property began in 1990 when C&W represented the site for USX Realty Development and convinced Mr. Iupe to purchase the project, notes the firm. Trans-Global Solutions, Inc. (TGS), a fully integrated railroad service/logistics provider for many Fortune 500 companies with offices in Beaumont and Houston, is the majority owner of the buyer, TGS Cedar Port Partners L.P. TGS has been the rail service provider for Cedar Crossing since its inception.
With a total expanse of 15,000 acres, Cedar Crossing Industrial Park is considered the world’s fifth largest industrial park and the largest on the Gulf Coast. The Park is located 20 miles east of Houston in Chambers County, directly across the Houston Ship Channel from the Bayport and Barbours Cut container terminals. The intermodal logistics park is reportedly ideal for light or heavy industrial, manufacturing of all types, waterfront operations and warehouse/distribution facilities. Approximately 65% of the Park remains undeveloped and is available for future expansion.
“This transaction comes at a time when low natural gas prices are driving manufacturing expansions and relocations across the U.S.,” said John Morris, C&W’s Industrial Services Lead for the Americas. “We see trade between South America, Asia and the U.S. poised for dynamic growth due to the completion of the Panama Canal expansion in 2015.”
To date, Cedar Crossing has attracted many top-tier companies with significant operations: Home Depot’s 755,000-square-foot distribution hub, Walmart’s 4.2 million-square-foot import center (its largest in the USA), JSW Steel’s plate and pipe manufacturing facilities, and Borusan Mannesmann’s $148 million steel pipe manufacturing facility. Other occupants include Exel, S&B Engineers, National Oilwell, GE Water, TMK-IPSCO, Century Asphalt, Samson Controls, and LS Energy Fabrication.
Cedar Crossing offers dual rail service with considerable rail infrastructure and existing storage, and features major freeway access, an extensive gas and chemical pipeline distribution network, access to the Gulf Coast region’s center of international trade via the Port of Houston, and access to container facilities. The Park has also benefitted from the construction of a bridge and parkway, and a $50 million investment of public funds for infrastructure improvements including the Public Barge Dock and its recent expansion. Additional infrastructure improvements are planned by the new ownership.
