GOSHEN—Principals of Boston-based development firm GFI Partners and commercial brokerage firm Resource Realty of Parsippany, NJ were joined by county and local officials on Nov. 24 to turn the first dirt on the largest speculative industrial project in memory in Orange County.
The local dignitaries that attended the event celebrating the launch of the 500,000-square-foot Tri-State Logistics Center at 2500 Route 17M in Goshen included Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, Village of Goshen Mayor Michael Nuzzolese and Orange County Partnership President and CEO Maureen Halahan.
The 83-acre site off of Route 17M had been the proposed site for the ill-fated Kikkerfrosch Brewery, which was abandoned in 2016.
Brian Poitras, director and portfolio manager of GFI Partners, said the firm plans to begin construction in earnest on the fully-approved logistics project in the first quarter of 2021 and expects to complete the venture by December 2021. Although the project is being built on a speculative basis, Poitras said the logistics development has already drawn significant tenat interest.
Resource Realty Principal Tom Consiglio, who related he is a Minisink Valley High School graduate, said the project is perhaps one of the largest speculative development projects in Orange County history.
“Tri-State Logistics Center is designed with all the features necessary to support the demanding requirements of today’s logistics providers, including 36-foot to 39-foot ceilings, up to 100 loading docks, an ESFR sprinkler system and abundant car and trailer parking, providing direct access to Route 17 and 10 miles to I-84 and the New York State Thruway.” He said the Goshen development will serve as a viable alternative for firms looking to possibly build logistics facilities downstate or in New Jersey due in part to the available workforce that exists in the Orange County region.
Resource Realty’s Scott Peck touted the development’s strategic location within 100 miles of a population that exceeds 33 million with among the highest household incomes in the nation. “This metro area will drive the success of the Tri-State Logistics Center. Additionally, the site, just an hour from New York City, is within two-and-a-half hours of Philadelphia, three-and-a-half hours of Boston and four-and-a-half hours of Washington, DC,” he said.
The project, which Poitras estimated would cost approximately $40 million to develop, marks the entrance of GFI Partners in Orange County and New York State. He said at the event that GFI, which boasts a portfolio of more than 15 million square feet of industrial space, is looking for additional investment opportunities in Orange County and the surrounding Hudson Valley.
Orange County Executive Neuhaus said he is pleased that GFI’s development will “breathe life” into the dormant former Kikkerfrosch Brewery site that will bring jobs to the region. He noted that despite its passenger air troubles due to COVID, cargo volume at New York Stewart International Airport is very strong, which should continue to attract business and investment to Orange County.
Orange County Partnership’s Halahan said, “This opportunity to build 500,000 square feet speculatively takes courage, but also takes a lot of research, so you must have done your homework and seen that this market is open for that kind of success and we are. We hope that this is the first of many GFI investments in our community and we sincerely thank you for bringing this investment to us and supporting the school district, the village and the county as well.”
Poitras said that GFI is currently breaking ground on a 368,000-square-foot speculative industrial project in Stratford, CT and is in the approval process on another development venture in Massachusetts.
He said that his firm does speculative projects to “get ahead of the market.” In addition, he said that the coronavirus pandemic has “accelerated the demand for industrial (space). More people are shopping online, so we have seen a real increase in demand for industrial space and warehouse space. So that kind of spurred us to accelerate our program and try to get these developments up and moving faster.”
