A Houston industrial developer launched his own venture last year and he is kicking off 2019 with a handful of speculative deals.

Phelan Bennett Development LLC is developing two speculative industrial projects, Justin Bennett, co-founder of Phelan Bennett, told the Houston Business Journal. The company’s slated to break ground on the Near East Distribution Center, a 176,201-square-foot industrial property at 8404 East Freeway at Interstate 10 and the 610 Loop, in the first quarter, Bennett said.

Meanwhile, construction is already underway on Air Center Distribution, a 108,549-square-foot speculative distribution property at 16400 Air Center Boulevard in north Houston. The property’s located in Central Green Business Park, which Pennsylvania-based Liberty Property Trust owns. Air Center Distribution’s shell should deliver in May, Bennett said.

A rendering of 16400 Air Center, which is being developed by Phelan Bennett Development.

Courtesy Phelan Bennett Development

“Investor demand for industrial is robust and perhaps the strongest I have experienced in Houston over the last decade,” Bennett said in an email.

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Phelan Bennett was launched in April 2018 by Bennett and Jeff Phelan of California-based Phelan Development. Prior to the spinoff, Bennett launched Denver-based DCT Industrial Trust’s (NYSE: DCT) Houston arm.

Phelan Bennett is backed by individual and institutional investors. The company develops industrial properties with the intent to hold, sell or with the intent of selling to the tenant.

Houston’s industrial market ended 2018 with a 5 percent vacancy rate, which is lower than it’s been since the second quarter of 2016. Roughly 16.3 million square feet in new industrial construction broke ground in Houston in 2018, which is 2.7 million square feet higher than the previous construction record set in 2014, per a report from CBRE.

The average size of an industrial property being built right now is 233,100 square feet, per the report.

Source: Houston Business Journal