DFW: A Hub for All Seasons

Projections by Waco-based economic analysis firm the Perryman Group call for the TI mega-plant, due to break ground in 2005, to generate more than 74,000 permanent jobs and $13 billion in spending in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metro area. The concurrent infusion of tens of millions of dollars into the University of Texas-Dallas engineering programs will only serve to spur even further corporate interest. But there was no shortage of that.

Mexican Truck Issue Stuck in Neutral It's been almost eight years since Mexican truckers, under a NAFTA provision, were due to be allowed unfettered travel across U.S. highways, but their movements remain tethered to the border.         First, it was safety concerns kept them south of that border. When those seemed resolved last year through congressional action, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco issued a temporary freeze on the measure, citing the poor quality of Mexican diesel fuel. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has been ordered to study potential pollution effects of Mexican cargo trucks in U.S. cities.         More than 160 Mexican trucking firms have applied for U.S. long-haul authority, but for now they're limited to border commercial zones – many of them in Texas – that can extend up to 20 miles north of U.S. border cities.         The study could take from two to five years to carry out, depending on how much political pressure is applied to expedite matters.

        Colliers International reported an increase of nearly 1.5 million sq. ft. (139,350 sq. m.) of industrial space in the Dallas-Ft. Worth market during the first quarter of 2003. Projects include an 85,725-sq.-ft. (7,964-sq.-m.) distribution facility built by Cadence McShane for Victory Packaging, a division of Houston-based Golden State Container, next to its manufacturing facility. The company has five such facilities in Texas, and 50 throughout North America, totaling more than 4 million sq. ft. (371,600 sq. m.) of space.
        Granite Properties is developing a 450,000-sq.-ft. (41,805-sq.-m.) shallow bay distribution center near DFW Airport, with construction on the first building set for early 2004. The project will unfold on 25 acres (10 hectares) of the 320-acre (130-hectare) RiverPark Industrial Park that Granite purchased from Atlanta-based Seefried.
        In addition to an industrial build-to-suit in Houston, Granite also just broke ground on the 720,000-sq.-ft. (66,888-sq.-m.) Lakeside Commerce Center, an industrial project that will encompass six buildings over the next five years just to the north of DFW Airport in Flower Mound.