Lincoln Property Co. Bets Big on Tucson Industrial Market

Lincoln Property Company finished its first ground-up industrial project in Tucson.

The Dallas-based firm wrapped construction on I-10 International Phase I, a two-building, 373,811-square-foot industrial development on 79 acres at the southeast corner of Alvernon Way and Los Reales Road, AZ Big Media reported.

The buildings span 159,000 and 215,000 square feet. The structures are valued at $80 million, or $214 per square foot.

Two other buildings, spanning 188,400 and 476,000 square feet, are planned as market demand increases. The second phase would bring the development to 1 million square feet of industrial space.

Brinkmann Constructors is the project’s general contractor. Butler Design Group and Ware Malcomb handled design. Jesse Blum of PICOR/Cushman & Wakefield is the exclusive leasing broker.

The development is in a Foreign Trade Zone near the critical arteries of Interstates 10 and 19 and Tucson International Airport, the second-busiest airport in the state. The buildings’ amenities are designed to attract and retain employees, including built-in barbecue equipment and seating for outdoor relaxing, dining and games.

Lincoln hopes the project’s “next-gen features and people-first approach” will attract tenants and their workers to the space in the coming months, Lincoln senior vice president John Orsak said.

While Phoenix has traditionally been the logistics hub in Arizona, some developers have looked to the Tucson area as land costs and congestion in Phoenix increase. E-commerce companies like Amazon and FedEx are already operating in the Tucson area.

Lincoln’s I-10 International project is the latest in a string of speculative developments anticipated to bring in tenants looking to set up operations in the Grand Canyon State while avoiding the pricier Phoenix market.

— Chris Malone Méndez