CenterPoint adds facilities at Savannah, Joliet logistics parks

Industrial logistics property developer will add a distribution center near the Georgia port and truck depot in Joliet.    CenterPoint Properties is expanding at its intermodal park in Savannah, Ga., and the massive inland port in Joliet, Ill.
   The industrial real estate developer plans to build on speculation a 315,810-square foot warehouse at the rail-served logistics park located about four miles from the Port of Savannah. 
   Savannah has grown into the fourth-largest container port in the United States because of its efficiency, capacity and inland transportation connections, which over the past 20 years have drawn many shippers to establish distribution centers nearby. 
   The Port of Savannah is growing even faster than normal through the first 10 months of the fiscal year. In April, container volumes jumped 25.8 percent compared to April 2014. Overall port traffic is up about 15 percent for the fiscal year as many shippers have rerouted cargo to avoid port congestion on the West Coast related to the longshore labor contract dispute.
   But port industry officials expect Savannah and other Southeast ports will continue to see a bump in traffic, albeit at lower levels than during the eight-month port slowdown, as shippers opt to reallocate some of their Asia imports to other gateways in search of more reliable transit times, especially after the Panama Canal expansion is completed next year. The Savannah harbor deepening project, which began last year, will allow passage for larger vessels from Asia.
   In January, construction was completed on a three-acre transload storage operation in the Savannah intermodal park for KW International. Last October, CenterPoint signed a 20-year lease on a 35,400-square foot container storage facility for Quala. At completion, CenterPoint Intermodal Center-Savannah will comprise more than 1.3 million square feet of industrial facilities and 30 acres of container and trailer storage. 
   In other news, CenterPoint will also build an 8.7-acre storage yard at the Joliet logistics park for new tenant California Multimodal.
   The wheeled storage yard will have secure fencing, 40 block heater receptacles and an office building. 
   California Multimodal will pull containers between the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe intermodal terminals, and many distribution centers in the park, as well as to other customer locations in the region.
   The facility is expected to be completed this fall.