1M-Sq Ft Waco Industrial Facility Sells for First Time Ever

The biggest manufacturing plant between Dallas and Austin traded on Wednesday for the first time since it was built more than 80 years ago.

Glass manufacturer O-I, formerly Owens-Illinois, sold the 55-acre industrial facility at 5200 Beverly Drive in Waco to Keating Resources in an off-market deal, according to a press release. The historic property was built in 1943 for the seller, which supplied glassware for the World War II war effort and produced bottles for Dr Pepper and Lone Star Beer. O-I used the plant until 2023.

The 1 million-square foot plant is the largest manufacturing facility between Dallas and Austin, a vital corridor of the Texas Triangle, Keating Resources President Alec Keating said. The buyer is subdividing the 907,000-square-foot distribution portion of the building into 100,000-square-foot units for lease or sale as a multi-tenant distribution and manufacturing facility.

The property includes two active rail spurs served by Union Pacific; altogether, the site can accommodate 90 boxcars at a time. The property also has natural gas and electric service, clear heights of up to 33 feet, and 20 acres of outdoor storage. Most importantly is its site at the nexus of the Texas Triangle, America’s fastest growing megaregion, cornered by Houston, San Antonio and Dallas/Fort Worth.

The sale price is undisclosed, but Keating Resources has now set a lease rate of $6.50 per square foot gross, according to the company’s leasing brochure.

“We have soft commitments on about 20 percent of the building,” Keating told The Real Deal. “There’s basically no vacancy in the Waco market because, unlike Dallas and Austin, there’s nobody building spec product. So we expect this to lease up pretty quickly, and there’s a strong manufacturing base in Waco.”

Josh Heiple with CBRE represented the seller, and Jordan Beard with Cromwell Commercial represented the buyer.

Waco is home to several manufacturing plants, including centers for Mars Wrigley, Graphic Packaging and Barsco. An Amazon distribution center is also near the property.