Construction started on the 180,000 square foot fulfillment center dba Tampa Fulfillment Center located on the last large industrial zoned land site in urban Tampa. A formal ground-breaking ceremony was held at noon on October 23rd, hosted by the owner-developer Keating Resources at the 16-acre site located in the shadow of Ybor City and the Channelside District at 104 South 34th Street, Tampa, FL.

The Cushman & Wakefield industrial leasing team of John Jackson, Julia Silva, Jessica Mizrahi, and Christine Maguire-King were hired by Keating Resources to lease the building. Cushman’s Jackson said that timing for the distribution center is perfect for the following reasons:

• Vacancy is in the sub-five percent range.
• No distribution centers have built west of 50th Street/US 41 in urban Tampa in over 20 years yet the population of Tampa Bay metro has grown to over 3 million today versus almost 2.3 million in 2000 and is still increasing by 50,000 people per year.
• Thousands of apartments and hundreds of businesses have opened in urban Tampa in the last 36 months, with more coming, but no distribution centers have been built to serve consumption.
• Distribution centers, now called fulfillment centers, are rapidly replacing retail buildings as consumers demand at home delivery using e-fulfillment firms like Amazon and other services.
• E-fulfillment firms demand modern distribution centers to host efficient transloading processes and technology including robotics designed to deliver products to consumers within hours of placing an order.

Gerard Keating, CEO of Keating Resources, announced that the distribution center will be the first distribution center built in Hillsborough County to achieve LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council upon completion in 2019, setting a new standard in Tampa for sustainability. The distribution center will incorporate roof insulation of R-25+ to reduce energy consumption, charging stations for electric cars, motion-activated LED lights, solar panels for on-site electrical use, bike stations and shower room to promote rideability for employees and a landscape plan using native Florida plant species requiring no fresh water usage.

Keating also announced that the building design will be the first built in Tampa, Florida specifically designed to support last mile delivery for e-fulfillment companies. This includes the ability for vehicles operating through Uber, Lyft and others, along with autonomous vehicles, to stage and load inside and outside of the building to pick up packages for efficient home delivery.

The building will provide 32’ clear height and 340-600 parking spaces along with sweeping views of McKay Bay and the downtown Tampa skyline. It is designed for up to six 30,000 SF tenants.

The development team includes the following:
Civil Engineer & Permitting: George F. Young
Architect including LEED certification: Heitman Architects
Structural Engineer: IMEG
General Contractor: Premier Design Build Group
Civil Construction: Kimmins Contracting Corp
Leasing: Cushman & Wakefield
Legal: Becker Gurian

The building brings to total over 700,000 SF of urban distribution centers purchased by Keating Resources in Tampa since December 2015.

Keating also announced that the company would move its headquarters to Tampa in the first quarter of 2019.

For more info contact Gerard Keating at gerard@keatingresources.com or 402-925-5113.