Texarkana, USA (Jan. 23, 2024) – TexAmericas Center (TAC), which owns and operates the 3rd ranked industrial park and is one of the largest mixed-use industrial parks in the United States, announced today its Duke East Site is prepared to be certified and has been qualified as “Shovel-Ready,” and is well-suited for mid-to-large scale industrial development.
The 22-acre Duke East Site is a shovel-ready, rail-served, greenfield development site situated on the TexAmericas Center East Campus (TAC East). The site is situated at the northwest corner of the intersection of Cass Street and the east end of Elm Circle, both of which are 80,000-pound truck routes, adjacent to a rail spur, and served by all utilities equipped with industrial capacities.
This property was previously a wooded buffer area separating a former industrial tract from adjacent roadways and other land uses on the former U.S. Army facility. The site can accommodate a rail served 250,000 to 350,000 square foot building with hundreds of employees.
In addition, a portion of the TAC Rail system runs along the north boundary of the Duke East Site, which can provide rail access for prospective tenants. Additional switches and spurs can be added along this line, if needed, for rail served activities within the Duke East Site.
“The Duke East Site is an ideal location for industrial development for companies that require a mid-to-large sized rail-served site as part of their logistical needs,” said TexAmericas Center CEO Scott Norton. “Additionally, the site provides suitable soil for all sizes of construction as well as easy access to multiple utilities and transportation options, including Union Pacific (UP) rail and major interstates.”
Last year TexAmericas Center launched its Qualified Sites Program (QSP), which is intended to improve on its brand promise of Speed-to-Market and Speed-to-Profit for companies interested in locating on its 12,000-acre industrial park in Northeast Texas. TexAmericas Center intends to pre-qualify all of its property through this standardized process to ensure the sites can meet the requirements of industry. The organization already offers tools such as expedited permitting and fast-track construction programs; working with a qualified site that is “shovel-ready” can shave months off of a development schedule. The time-savings is a valuable commodity.
Through the QSP, an on-staff Professional Engineer (PE) and economic development professional, each with exceptional knowledge of company needs, grades a specific site for how well suited it is for industrial or commercial development based upon various site selection characteristics. Those characteristics include proximity to transportation infrastructure; access to utilities including electrical, natural gas, fiber, water and sewer; soil testing for condition and characteristics; title oversight; and other site selection due diligence standards.
“Our due diligence in providing everything prospective tenants, commercial real estate agents and site search consultants are looking for when researching a site is not only cost effective but also saves valuable time in the long run,” said Eric Voyles, executive vice president and chief economic development officer at TexAmericas Center. “This gives companies the necessary information to more easily be able to make an informed decision so operations can be up and running more quickly – which can lead to greater profitability.”
Certified Sites have become an important part of the site selection process, and because TexAmericas Center is self-certifying its sites the organization is calling its product a “qualified” site,” meaning that they have assembled all the information on the site and it is capable of being certified.
The QSP serves as an honest, realistic assessment of the developability, quality, and type of shovel-ready sites available today at TexAmericas Center. The broader goals are to create a high standard for the inventory of available sites, filling an identified market gap, in the greater Texarkana industrial and commercial marketplace.
The program is spearheaded by TexAmericas Center Executive Vice President/Chief Operations Officer Jeff Whitten, P.E. Whitten is responsible for day-to-day operations, property maintenance, and procurement and management of all real and personal property. He is also heavily involved with the planning and management of the retrofit of existing buildings and development of new facilities for the purpose of transaction or lease for job creation. Having worked with a growing engineering firm in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, been a municipal public works director, and operated his own engineering firm, Jeff brings nearly 30 years of experience in both the public and private sectors.
You can find the full qualified report on the Duke East Site here. You can learn more about the TexAmericas Center Qualified Site Program here.
