Aggressive development of large warehouse and manufacturing facilities east of Interstate 75 is making Lee County's industrial segment one of the bright spots in the local real estate market. This activity continues to make industrial space one of the area's healthiest real estate segments, which is unusual considering our status as a secondary market.

Still, while much of the industrial construction has shifted east -- especially in proximity to Southwest Florida International Airport -- Metro Parkway continues to fulfill its niche of small- to mid-size warehouse space. Because of this, other industrial areas, failing to spark the kind of development they had hoped for, are changing their strategies. An example of this is the 180-acre Hancock Creek Commerce Park in Cape Coral north of Pine Island Road. With only two businesses in the park, the new owners are considering marketing it in the future for a regional mall, especially if the area can support regional malls both north and south of the Caloosahatchee River.

Shifting patterns

Southwest Florida International Airport continues to break both passenger and freight traffic records, and combined with quick access to I-75, development in industrial areas close to the airport and interstate has begun to explode in the last several years. Jet Park/Jetport Interstate Commerce Park and Westlinks Business Park, both near the airport, have been especially hot in the last year.

Some companies in these parks use the quick access to I-75. And developers are banking that these two major transportation assets will draw even more tenants, especially if spec space is available for quick occupancy.

In early 1998, Klocke of America, a German manufacturer for the cosmetics industry, opened its 22,500-square-foot plant in Jetport. Later in the year, the company purchased an additional 11 acres in the park for up to 100,000-square-feet of future manufacturing and warehouse space.

LeeSar -- a joint venture of Lee Memorial Health System and Sarasota Memorial Hospital -- occupied much of a 68,000-square-foot speculative building in the park for a medical supplies distribution center. And 4M Properties -- which built a 66,000-square-foot speculative warehouse off Metro Parkway three years ago -- has built a 30,000 square foot building in Jetport.

At Westlinks Business Park in Gateway, McGarvey Development Company has built more than 150,000 square feet of speculative flex space. Included in that space is a 50,000 square-foot flex warehouse building (Westlinks I) completed in the summer of 1997. It is almost fully leased. Another 100,000 square feet of warehouse and office flex space in the Westlinks complex, including Westlinks II (40,000 square foot , completely leased), Westlinks III (30,000 square feet office/flex) and Westlinks VII (31,000 square feet).

Tenants in the Westlinks complex include Austoft Americas, a manufacturer of sugar cane harvesting equipment, Cintas Corp., Inter-Continental Graphics, New Horizons Computer Learning Center and Corporate Express.

Other major tenants in the park include Diagnostic Services Inc., a regional medical testing facility, which completed its 45,000-square-foot facility in 1998 and will employ 150, and Baader North America Corp., a manufacturer of chicken and fish processing machines, which built a plant in the park in 1995 and employs 80.

Not far away in Lehigh Acres, the 295-acres Westgate Regional Centre has started to see the signs of increased industrial development. In 1996, Easy Picker Golf Products relocated from California and built a 45,000-square-foot manufacturing plant there. The company makes a variety of golf driving range equipment and employs 100. And in 1997, the Paving Stone Company, a manufacturer of decorative pavers, opened a 20,000-square-foot plant there. The park also has recently planned or built more than 30,000 square feet of spec space.

Farther north, but still east of I-75, the 46-acre B.F. Industrial Center has experienced significant activity of smaller speculative and build-to-suit space. The park is being developed by Bundschu-Kraft, the successful developers of Billy Creek Commerce Center just west of I-75. In 1998, B.F. Industrial Center constructed more than 30,000 square feet of flex space in 6,000- square-foot to 10,000-square-foot increments.

Despite this activity to the east, we cannot discount the strength of Metro Parkway. In 1998, over 30 sales and new construction permits along the parkway generated more than $15 million of economic activity.

In addition, some developers, such as McGarvey, have branched into the Metro area. In July, McGarvey-controlled Twosome Flex Associates purchased more than 22 acres on Metro Parkway for an office and light industrial park.

All this adds up to a strong local industrial market, and other numbers bear that out. Through November 1998 there had been 64 manufacturing plant and warehouse construction projects in Lee County (compared to 42 in 1997), adding 582,000 square feet of space valued at $23.7 million (a 4 percent increase over 1997).

Frank D'Alessandro is the CEO of Grubb &Ellis|VIP-D'Alessandro, a full-service commercial real estate company located in Fort Myers.