A depiction of the upcoming 560,000 square foot warehouse in Deepwater Industrial Park. (Courtesy Hourigan Development)
While Hourigan Development is considering its options for redeveloping the southern silos in Manchester, Hourigan Development recently embarked on another project on the Southside.
Last month the groundbreaking took place in the Deepwater Industrial Park at 3021 Commerce Road off Interstate 95.
Hourigan bought the 110 acre property in 2017 and demolished 17 old warehouses totaling approximately 2.4 million square feet.
A multi-stage project with a total of around 1.2 million square meters of storage space is to be built in their place. The first phase will be a 560,000 square meter warehouse that will initially be built to specifications.
CEO Mark Hourigan, who also runs his construction company of the same name, said the spec warehouse has not signed tenants yet, but has received interest. The page is almost ready, and Hourigan said they are trying to forestall any potential demand.
“We learned that the time between when the search (user) starts and when they want to be employed in the building is about six months,” said Hourigan. “You have to be on the go to seriously fight for all the users that come into the market.”
Rob Dirom and Joe Marchetti from Colliers International are marketing the space.
Hourigan said they hope the project will go vertical by the end of 2021 but that supply chain issues for steel have delayed the project. After Hourigan placed a steel order for such a project, Hourigan said it would typically take about 18 weeks for it to arrive.
“(That time) has lengthened to about 40 weeks. Material shortages and labor shortages are definitely things that we are following very closely, ”said Hourigan.
“We’re going to put in panels and roll concrete walls so that when we have the stuff ready, the steel comes in, the roof goes on and we wrap up the building very quickly.”
Hourigan aims to complete the first phase by the second quarter of 2022.
The industrial real estate sector has been busy across the Richmond area this year with planned projects in Northern and Eastern Henrico, as well as Prince George and Hanover.
Hourigan said he anticipates demand for industrial space will continue to grow, driven in part by Richmond’s geographic location.
“Richmond is very well positioned with the Port of Hampton Roads and the Port of Richmond,” said Hourigan. “And if you look at the population that can be served by truck from Richmond in a day, we are in a very desirable location.”
Deepwater Industrial Park is the second major project that Hourigan is taking on south of the river.
Earlier this month, the company received city council approval to begin renovating the southern silos at 2-4 Manchester Road. The company is still weighing its options for the location but now has the necessary permissions to build a commercial, residential, or mixed use project that could be over 20 floors.