Velocis pads DFW’s lead as nation’s top industrial developer

The Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex continues its reign as the nation’s top industrial construction market.

A Dallas investor is gearing up to build a business park in North Fort Worth totaling more than 850,000 square feet of space, according to the Dallas Morning News.

The buildings will reportedly cost more than $53 million, or about $62 per square foot. Construction is expected to start in January and could be completed in early 2024.

“The demand for industrial real estate, especially in Texas metro areas like Dallas-Fort Worth, is at an all-time high right now,” Velocis partner Paul Smith said in a July statement announcing the partnership with Sumitomo. “We consider these first two transactions to be the first of many industrial investments with our client as we continue to evaluate opportunities locally and on a national level.”

Dallas-based Velocis is a private real estate investment group that began acquiring commercial properties across the country in 2010. In July, the company announced a partnership with Tokyo-based Sumitomo Corp. to build warehouses in southern Dallas County and the Great Southwest Industrial District between Dallas and Fort Worth, although this deal is not part of that joint venture.

Almost 67 million square feet of warehouse and distribution space was under construction in North Texas in October. That represented 9 percent of the total industrial pipeline in the United States.