Two terminals spark $93M La Porte commerce center

​​​​​LA PORTE – Liberty Property Trust has closed on a $93 million deal in La Porte’s Port Crossing Commerce Center.

The purchase from ML Realty and National Property Holdings included three fully leased buildings totaling 921,000 sf and 139 acres that could accommodate up to 2 million sf of additional development.

The site is west of Texas 146 along the Union Pacific rail line, just south of Fairmont Parkway, between the Barbours Cut and Bayport container terminals at the Port of Houston.

The purchase included two rail-served buildings leased by Anheuser-Busch and Gulf Winds and a building leased by Ferguson Enterprises and Overland Distribution.

Liberty Property Trust could add six to eight buildings on the land, starting with two buildings early next year. Phase I could include a 408,000-sf cross-dock building and a 105,000-sf rear-load building.

Rents have been rising as the vacancy rate has gone down to about 3 percent in the southeast submarket compared with more than 7 percent a year ago.

Higher occupancy rates and rents have pushed up values for east side industrial properties by 25 percent in the last year or two.

Cargo handled through the Port of Houston rose to 37.6 million tons in 2014, up from 31.3 million tons in 2010, according to the Port of Houston Authority. Container goods made up slightly more than half of the cargo.

The Houston region overall posted a vacancy rate of 4.8 percent for industrial properties in second quarter and the southeast side is among the tightest submarkets, according to the CBRE 2Q Houston Industrial Marketview Report.