Sites across US primed for rail-served industrial development

Western U.S. railroad BNSF and eastern U.S. rail carrier CSX are involved in or at least being affected by industrial development programs on their networks, according to recent announcements.

In Arizona, commercial real estate brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield worked with real estate investment firm Westcore on a $73.3 million acquisition financing deal involving Hatcher Industrial. Hatcher Industrial’s 53.5-acre site in Glendale spans 906,125 square feet and has two newly constructed Class A buildings. The site is adjacent to BNSF’s (NYSE: BRK-B) track and is near Phoenix’s State Loop 303 corridor, providing efficient access to all major West Coast distribution hubs, Cushman & Wakefield said on Tuesday. 

“This was one of the most competitive debt marketing processes we’ve seen this year,” Brian Share, executive managing director for Cushman & Wakefield’s equity, debt and structured finance, said in a release. “The story, deal profile, and sponsorship really resonated with lenders despite the capital markets headwinds. We’re thrilled with the outcome for Westcore.”

Meanwhile, CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) announced last week that it has designated eight sites in seven states to be part of CSX’s select site program. The program, aimed at preparing sites near CSX’s network for industrial development, gives sites one of three ratings based on their characteristics. The ratings are gold, silver and bronze.