Behemoth Industrial Building Completed at ProLogis Park North

By Tony Illia

A massive new industrial building was just completed in North Las Vegas. Known as Building 16 of the ProLogis Park North, the $16.5 million structure is comprised of 128 concrete panels weighing up to 84 tons each.

A new North Las Vegas industrial building is as big as they come, housing 13 football fields without breaking a sweat. It’s the $16.5 million “Building 16” in the ProLogis Park North master-planned business complex at 3837 Bay Lake Trail. Reno-based United Construction Co. completed the 513,240-sq-ft distribution/warehouse building last month.

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“It’s the largest speculative industrial building ever built in Southern Nevada,” says Suzette LaGrange, vice president of Colliers International Las Vegas’ Industrial Division, which is overseeing the project’s leasing effort. “There is a real scarcity of this type of product in the marketplace.”

Warehouse/distribution space had a 2.6% vacancy rate in the second quarter, essentially equaling full occupancy, reports Colliers International/Restrepo Consulting Group. Warehouse/distribution space had the lowest vacancy rate of all industrial product types in Southern Nevada during the second quarter, or 1.8% below the valley-wide average.

John Restrepo, principal of Restrepo Consulting Group, a Las Vegas-based real estate research firm, says demand for industrial space remains strong in Southern Nevada "as evidenced by five consecutive quarters of rent increases. The valley's robust economy and steady job growth have resulted in an absorption-to-completion rate where new space is being snapped up as soon it comes online."

ProLogis' Building 16 has a 32-ft clearance height and 100 dock-high rollup and eight grade-level doors. Situated on 26.8 acres, the concrete tilt-wall building has glass storefront and side office entries as well as drought-tolerant landscaping along the perimeter.

There are 238 skylights inside, each measuring 4 by 8-ft, along with 520 surface parking spaces and additional trailer parking. Las Vegas-based Wells Cargo Construction paved the asphalt parking lot. The building can house up to eight businesses, each with its own professional entrance and dock doors.

Construction entailed casting 128 panels onsite, with an average size of 25 ft wide, 46 ft tall and 9 in thick. The largest panels weighed 84 tons, though most were about 54 tons.

“We used a 300-ton mobile crane that tilted panels at an average speed of 8.5 minutes per panel,” says Don Green, United’s project superintendent. “The entire building went-up within a couple of days.”

North Las Vegas-based Precision Concrete Inc. was the concrete subcontractor, and Silver State Materials Corp. of Las Vegas was the supplier. The project saw roughly 80 people onsite during the height of construction activity.

Designed by Blakely Johnson & Ghusn, Inc. of Reno, the building is supported by 60 tubular steel columns measuring 8 in. sq along with a handful of floor-to-ceiling chevron brace frames. The 470-ft-wide by 1,092-ft-long structure rests atop a slab mat foundation. The building is 43 ft tall at its highest point from grade with a panelized roof system housing 103 evaporate coolers.

The project had its share of obstacles to overcome, including the placement of a 9-ft-tall, 16-ft-wide box culvert and 36-in.-diameter storm drain along the west side of the property. Las Vegas-based Mel Clark Construction was the earthwork contractor.

Soil conditions presented yet another challenge due to the project's location near a natural flood channel. That forced the contractor to overexcavate down 7 ft, moving roughly 6,000 cu yds of dirt.

"We had to water the site for a month in order to get the proper compaction," says Don Woods, United's division manager. "We had to make sure that we didn't have any collapsible soils."

There were also noise restrictions because of homes in the vicinity, which meant work hours after 6 a.m. and nighttime concrete pours. The project additionally sealed off access to Belmont Avenue as per a city-mandated agreement to satisfy neighbor concerns, which entailed rerouting material delivery supplies.

Reno-based DP Partners developed the project, though it sold the still-under-construction building earlier this year as part of a larger real estate deal that entailed 114 industrial properties in six states, including 20 buildings totaling 3.9 million sq ft in Southern Nevada.

Rival developer ProLogis of Denver acquired the real estate portfolio for $1.85 billion in cash. ProLogis took possession of Building 16 once it was completed.

Key Players

Developer: DP Partners
Owner: ProLogis
General Contractor: United Construction Co.
Architect/Engineer: Blakely Johnson & Ghusn Inc.
Subcontractors: Precision Concrete; Adobe Electric; Mel Clark Construction; Panelized Structures; Sunrise Air; Gallagher Plumbing

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