One million sq. ft. industrial imprint

One million sq. ft. industrial imprint

Written by Christi Covington Friday, 07 September 2007

This year, Pflugerville will get its first industrial park that will cover one million sq. ft. of space, mimicking the size of the city’s future Stone Hill Town Center or Lakeline Mall.

The presence of the park, named Verde Springbook Corporate Center, near Heatherwilde Boulevard, also means more local jobs for residents and a road expansion that will give easier access to Toll 45, Mayor Jeff Coleman said.

“It’s the first stepping stone in industrial development and employment,” Coleman said. “We got Wal-Mart and Stone Hill. We were trying for retail, and [these shopping options] burst that bubble. Now this will do the same for industrial.”

Verde Corporate Realty Service broke ground this summer on the first and largest of the park’s buildings at the corner of Schultz Lane and Springbrook close to Meister Lane. As a part of negotiations, Verde developers have agreed to help fund the expansion of New Meister Lane to provide a direct connection to Heatherwilde Boulevard creating easier access to Toll 45. It is an effort they say will entice future tenants. A tenant has agreed to fill most of the first building’s 144,000 sq. ft. space.

“Already I think we’re seeing the impact the toll roads are having,” developer Rob Wendt said.

Ready to move

Wendt cannot give the name of the logistics company that he estimates will come with 50 to 60 positions, but said it plans to make the move by December. With this initial success in mind, he plans to begin the second building, which will have more than 100,000 sq. ft. available. As companies continue to come, Verde will keep building.

The industrial center is flexibly designed so it fits the needs of a diverse range of companies. Charles Simon, director of the Pflugerville Community Development Corporation, said it is one of the most promising projects he has seen come to the city and has the ability to draw everything from manufacturing to sales center and potentially draw hundreds of employees. The nearest industrial center is Corridor Park One at IH 35 and Toll 45 in Round Rock.

Pflugerville’s attraction

Although Wendt had some initial reservations about doing business in Pflugerville, he said he is now open to future projects in the area.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” he said. “I had heard it could be difficult to build there, but the city has been tremendous.”

Originally, when Wendt started looking for property to build the industrial park, he researched the north Austin and Round Rock corridor, wanting something near the toll roads. It was that same reason that made Pflugerville attractive with its position between IH 35, Toll 130 and Toll 45.

The city’s uncommon claim to having triple freeport exemption also made it a valuable location. Since 1990, Texas code has allowed schools districts, counties, cities and junior college districts to choose whether they collect taxes on freeport property or not. Freeport property is defined as goods that are temporarily held for assembling, processing, manufacturing or storage. If the goods leave the state within 175 days, they do not have to be taxed.

In Pflugerville, the county, school district and, most recently, the city as of Aug. 7, do not collect the taxes on these items. That was an important incentive to the center’s first tenant who handles the shipping of another company’s property, Wendt said.

“It was very attractive. Only Pflugerville and Manor offer triple freeport in Central Texas,” he said.

For Coleman, the industrial park’s entrance marks the beginning of what Pflugerville will see in the future. The land along the toll corridors is largely open for development. It drew Wendt, and he expects it will draw others.

“In five years, Pflugerville is going to look so different,” he said. “We will have some major opportunities to make it where people can live, work and play here in Pflugerville.”

• Verde Springbrook Corporate Center is a one million sq. ft. industrial park.
• When developers decided to build Verde Springbrook Corporate Center, they agreed to help build an extension of New Meister Lane connecting Schultz Lane with the existing Meister Lane. Exit ramps are being added at Toll 45 and Heatherwilde Boulevard.
• This land is proposed for future commercial development along the toll corridor.
• New and old subdivisions sit across the street or close to the industrial development.

 

 

Project profile

Industrial facilities ideal for manufacturing and logistics

• 63 acres
• One million sq. ft. of industrial building
• Building 7 is under construction. Primary tenant moves in December
• Building 10 is about to begin construction

Project manager: Rob Wendt

Developer: Verde Corporate Realty Service - Developer, owner and operation of corporate logistics and manufacturing facilities in the U.S.-Mexico border region and related gateway cities including Austin, San Antonio and Houston. Since its first acquisition in July 2004, Verde has developed or acquired more than 11 million sq. ft. of industrial buildings. Recent projects include 256,000 sq. ft in Houston and 184,000 sq. ft. in San Antonio.

Three times free

Pflugerville’s uncommon claim of having complete freeport property tax exemption

Definition - Freeport property is goods held in Texas temporarily for up to 175 days for assembling, processing, manufacturing, storage or other purposes

Tax Code Section 11.251 - Texas school districts, counties, cities and junior college districts can choose whether or not to tax freeport property. Other special districts must exempt freeport property. This section of the tax code was adopted in 1990.

Triple freeport - Pflugerville and Manor are a few of the areas in the state where the school district, county and city all exempt freeport property, making the city particularly attractive to manufacturers, Verde developer Rob Wendt said.

Trend-breaker - Generally, the school districts and counties keep the taxes of freeport property, while cities give the exemption, according to Pflugerville Economic Director Charles Simon. Pflugerville ISD and Travis County have not collected the taxes for years, while the City of Pflugerville adopted the exemption practice in August.

www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/freeport/index.html