Southpointe II growth in works
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Fueled by the Marcellus Shale boom, a Green Tree developer intends to erect two new office buildings at the Southpointe II complex in Washington County.
Burns & Scalo Real Estate Services has reached an agreement to buy about 15 acres of land at the business park to accommodate the five-story office buildings, each totaling 125,000 square feet.
In Warrendale, meanwhile, developer Keystone Property Group is planning to build two new class A office buildings of up to 150,000 square feet at Keystone Summit Corporate Park, in part to meet growing demand from oil and gas companies.
At Southpointe II, James Scalo, Burns & Scalo president, said he expects to close on the land deal with the Washington County Authority in 90 days. Burns & Scalo paid $125,000 an acre for the land, he said.
The developer hopes to get started on the five-story office buildings this summer or fall. Both will offer class A office space as well as environmentally friendly sustainable features.
Mr. Scalo said the construction is being driven primarily by the demand for space by oil and gas companies moving into the region to tap into Marcellus Shale reserves.
"There's substantial interest without any marketing, which is really why we're doing this," he said.
Burns & Scalo hopes to complete the buildings in 12 months. Whether it does both at the same time or one at a time depends on the pre-leasing, Mr. Scalo said.
"It would be ideal to start both at the same time," he said, adding he believes the pre-leasing will be high enough to do so.
Southpointe II is an extension of the Southpointe business park. While Burns & Scalo has about 700,000 square feet of office space at Southpointe, the two new office buildings mark its first venture in Southpointe II.
Mr. Scalo doesn't believe he will have any problem finding tenants for the space. "There's more demand than square feet [available] with those we're talking to," he said.
"This is a premier site," he added. "It sits at the top of the slope. The buildings will have visibility from Interstate 79."
First Published January 28, 2012 12:00 am
