Industrial Partners Invests $4.2 Million in Spec Facility
January 2016
By David Zaslawsky
Photography by Robert Fouts
As a member of the worldwide Society of Industrial Office Realtors, Nim Frazer talks with colleagues and he listens and learns.
Frazer, owner and general manager of Industrial Partners, LLC, said that industrial brokers across the country told him what they are looking for, and it’s changed from the past.
“Most companies are looking for bigger buildings and they’re looking for nicer properties, Frazer said. “They are looking for tall ceiling heights. They are looking for buildings that have ESFR (Early Suppression Fast Response) sprinkler systems and have ample room for truck trailers and truck storage.”
Now, Frazer is investing $4.2 million in a speculative building at the upscale Montgomery Industrial Park in East Montgomery. That investment is for a shell, which Frazer said should be completed during the first quarter of 2016. Industrial Partners could be spending another $4 million “depending on who the user is and what it costs to finish the building,” Frazer said. The company, or companies, if there are two in the facility, have the option to either lease the space or buy the building, and the spec building was already being marketed in early November.
The building will have the features that industrial brokers said companies want. It’s a large building – 167,400 square feet – that can be expanded by 150,600 square feet. That’s a total of 318,000 square feet. “We are putting the maximum-sized building we can on the site,” Frazer said about the 13-acre location.
The facility will have those high ceilings that Frazer talked about – 32-feet high – and there is ample room for truck trailer storage.
Having a spec building “is a huge advantage that sets Montgomery apart in economic development competition,” said then-Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce Chairman-Elect Bruce Crawford at a news conference. He said that Montgomery Industrial Park was “one of Montgomery’s greatest economic development assets.”
Frazer said that “it’s been six or seven years since we’ve been in a position to be able to feel like we want to build a new building.” His firm constructed the last spec building at Montgomery Industrial Park, which is owned by Montgomery County. That last spec building, which houses three tenants in about 140,000 square feet, was completed 10-plus years ago.
“We have been saving for the opportunity,” Frazer said about investing in a spec building. “Obviously, it would have been great to have Hyundai make an announcement for an expansion, but that hasn’t happened. We made the decision that we were going to do this one way or another.”
There are two automotive companies – DAS and KJ USA – at Montgomery Industrial Park, which is located off of Interstate 85. The park has 10 tenants, including four medical companies. “It’s always good to have diversity (of clients) and automotive is what most people hear about and read about today, but we would love to attract manufacturers,” Frazer said. “We would love to attract logistics companies – a variety of different type prospects that may come and see value in this location. We are trying to design a product that is attractive to most potential users that we can think of.”
From networking with industrial Realtors, Frazer said that the “next three years are the best opportunity in our business and we are going to try to do what we can … to build and attract new companies to this area.”
After the spec building is occupied – all 318,000 square feet – Frazer will be building another spec building.
“We want to fill up Nim’s building quickly and create some more jobs out there,” said Montgomery County Commissioner Andrew Hall, whose district includes Montgomery Industrial Park.
0Montgomery Industrial Park Raises the Bar with Designations and Building
January 2016
By David Zaslawsky
Photography by Robert Fouts
There is one industrial park in Alabama that is designated AT&T Fiber Ready; designated an AdvantageSite; and has or will have in a few short months a 167,400-square-foot speculative building.
That one place is Montgomery Industrial Park and local elected leaders – as well as local economic developers – cannot wait to market the site.
Those three “game-changing developments … will make it not only one of the leading business and industrial parks in the state of Alabama, but also one of the finest in the Southeast,” said then-Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce Chairman-Elect Bruce Crawford at a news conference. “It takes a team to make projects possible and we do have a tremendous team here in Montgomery, Montgomery County and the River Region.”
That AT&T Fiber Ready designation “means that AT&T has fiber facilities in place and stands ready to deliver advanced services to potential tenants,” AT&T Alabama President Fred McCallum said. The fiber is in place and “ready to help local businesses drive job creation.”
McCallum said that local officials recruiting companies “can check the important high-speed connectivity box. You are AT&T Fiber Ready.”
The industrial park also received that all-important AdvantageSite designation from the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA). Montgomery Industrial Park had to meet certain standards/requirements to receive the designation. The industrial park will be listed on EDPA’s database of sites and buildings, which is used by site consultants, companies and economic developers.
“It’s just a wonderful day for these three things to be happening,” Montgomery County Commission Chairman Elton N. Dean Sr. said. “The fact that Montgomery Industrial Park has received these superior designations shows that our hard work is paying off and more importantly, these kinds of achievements contribute to enhancing our residents’ quality of life.”
Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said that the site with those designations and a spec building “will get a really good first look.” He said, “It takes a village in economic development. The great news we’ve heard today is just another example of the positive things we continue to accomplish because our city, county and business leaders work together for the good of the community.”
Crawford said that the AT&T Fiber Ready and AdvantageSite designations coupled with a large spec building is “demonstrating to those looking to do business here that we are on the cutting edge. We are showing them that Montgomery and the River Region are where you want to be.”
