First, Federal Express. Now, Service Express.
Service Express, a South Carolina-based distribution and consolidation freight company, signed a lease for 100,258 square feet of warehouse space at Hollins End Corporate Park in Baltimore County.
The deal happens about two months after Baltimore industrial developer Preston Partners said FedEx would lease a new 125,000-square-foot building on 16 acres in the Halethorpe business park.
“The lease by Service Express is another confirmation of the superb location of this park,” said David Scheffenacker, president of Preston Capital Management. “We’re four minutes to Interstate 95 and two minutes to Interstate 695.”
Preston Partners has begun redeveloping the 51-acre Hollins End Corporate Park, a former grocery warehouse-distribution center for A&P on Hollins Ferry Road.
In addition to the FedEx Ground building, the project includes the renovation of a 300,000-square-foot warehouse and construction of up to six buildings, ranging from 20,000 square feet to 60,000 square feet.
Service Express, which is relocating from Troy Hill Corporate Park in Elkridge, will occupy a portion of the renovated building, with occupancy scheduled for September.
The average rental rate for warehouse/distribution space in Baltimore County in the second quarter of 2008 was $5.45 per square foot/year, according to research from real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.
The Service Express move means new jobs and a new company in Baltimore County, said Fronda Cohen, spokeswoman for the Baltimore County Department of Economic Development.
“Halethorpe is really reigniting as a premier logistical hub for distribution companies,” Cohen said. “With gas prices where they are, every mile counts, especially in the distribution business. You want to have the most efficient route between two points.”
Preston Partners is also renovating Hollins End East Corporate Park across the street from Hollins End Corporate Park. The six-building, 517,000-square-foot distribution park is currently fully leased, home to companies such as Northrop Grumman, Norandex, Barton Cotton, Star Sales and Cowan Transportation.
“You need to refurbish and reinvent,” Cohen said. “Developers are seeing the value in a park’s location and revitalizing these areas.”
