Biggest private corporation in US inks lease at Beacon Logistics Park

Cargill signed a lease for 70,000 square feet at a new industrial park in Hialeah.

The international food conglomerate, ranked as the largest privately-held corporation in the U.S. by Forbes, inked a lease at Codina Partners and USAA Real Estate’s Beacon Logistics Park, according to Armando Codina, executive chairman at Codina Partners.

Cargill has 160,000 employees in 70 countries in the food, agriculture, financial and industrial industries. The company will use more than half of the space – over 35,000 square feet – for freezer space.

The remainder will be used for office and cooler storage, according to a press release. Cargill’s Beacon Logistics Park location will be in building E. The 146,000-square-foot warehouse has a non-shared truck court, depth of 160 feet and a 60-foot speed bay.

Sebastian Juncadella of Fairchild Partners, the exclusive leasing agent for Beacon Logistics Park along with Jose I. Juncadella, represented the developers in the lease with Cargill.

Codina said the lease marks the first that the developers are announcing, and that they have been focused on finding credit tenants.

The industrial park will have more than 1.3 million square feet once it’s completed. It’s in a foreign trade zone, which means that international shippers can reduce, defer or in some cases, eliminate U.S. Customs duties with import and export activity. The property is also near major highways and Miami International Airport.

The industrial market in South Florida has outperformed other sectors due to the rise in e-commerce. Rental rates and land prices have skyrocketed in recent years.

Codina Partners assembled the 72 acres for Beacon Logistics Park in two deals, spending $28 million for 55 acres in late 2016 and $9.9 million to acquire 17 acres in early 2018.

Building F, a 147,000-square-foot building, was recently completed at the industrial complex.

The project marks Codina’s return to the industrial market after more than a decade. Codina Partners developed Downtown Doral, a mixed-use project with residential, retail, office and a school. The company partnered with Jim Carr on a residential portion of the project.

“It feels great to be back in the industrial space,” Codina said.