“Today development companies are trying to take land acquisition away from high cost and high congested areas,” observes Jon C. Cross, spokesman for The Allen Group, a private development company in San Diego. The company is developing significant inland ports and logistics parks.
INLAND PORT DEFINED
The Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas in Austin defines an inland port as a “site located away from traditional land, air and coastal borders with the vision to facilitate and process international trade through strategic investment in multi-modal transportation assets and by promoting value-added services as goods move through the supply chain.”
Cross adds that a successful logistics park has additional characteristics: access to a major container seaport, an intermodal facility serviced by Class I railroad, a minimum of 1,000 acres of total land, US Customs clearance services, Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) status, strong local market access (e.g., major metropolitan area), nearby access to north/south and/or east/west interstate highways, and access to a strong local labor pool.
Although inland ports have been around since the Virginia Port Authority (VPA) opened its 161-acre Virginia Inland Port (VIP) in1989 in Front Royal, VA some 70 miles west of Washington, DC, inland ports are now coming of age. Today inland ports are being developed to operate similarly to VIP’s: an intermodal container transfer facility that provides an interface between truck and rail for the transport of ocean-going containers to and from the ports of Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton Roads. The idea is to ship containers by the less expensive means of rail to locations where they can be trucked shorter distances.
Cross defines such projects as akin to “oceanfront property.” By locating close to an inland port, a company can reduce its drayage costs. The savings can be considerable—as high as $1 million to $3 million per year, he claims.
“Companies, especially in the Western United States, are looking at all components: transportation, drayage costs, labor, real estate costs,” Cross says. “All together, these equations call for an inland location.”
INTERMODAL ORIENTED
California, especially, is seeing its share of logistics parks and inland ports. These offer an alternative to California’s congested and expensive locations near Los Angeles/Long Beach. Driving their development in California is that state’s overwhelming importation of Asian imports. Despite its 15,000+ miles of highways and freeways, 12 cargo airports, 11 cargo seaports, 18 foreign trade zones, 42 enterprise zones, and 11 cargo seaports, California’s infrastructure is bursting at the seems handling increasing international trade.
Consequently, The Allen Group has developed two logistics parks in California’s Central Valley: International Trade and Transportation Center (ITTC) and MidState 99 Distribution Center.
ITTC is a 700 acre industrial park with some 2 million square feet in Bakersfield in
Red-hot logistics parks and inland ports address shippers’ distribution needs
by Karen Thuermer Apr 27, 2008
By Karen E. Thuermer, AJOTThe latest prospects for real estate appear dim. Yet for those in the shipping industry, distribution centers are red-hot. After all, even in a slowing economy shippers want their goods fast. Consequently, distribution center (DC) developers have become adept at providing projects designed for flexibility and agility.
Now with transportation costs raging sky high, land becoming increasing scarce and rents too expensive for sites close to ports of importation, a number of logistics parks and inland ports farther a field are popping up. These draw strength from the availability of ample, inland land, cheaper real estate and multi-modal access. After all, we’re all heard the adage “location, location, location.” When combining real estate with logistics, this expression is not far from the truth.
“Today development companies are trying to take land acquisition away from high cost and high congested areas,” observes Jon C. Cross, spokesman for The Allen Group, a private development company in San Diego. The company is developing significant inland ports and logistics parks.
INLAND PORT DEFINED
The Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas in Austin defines an inland port as a “site located away from traditional land, air and coastal borders with the vision to facilitate and process international trade through strategic investment in multi-modal transportation assets and by promoting value-added services as goods move through the supply chain.”
Cross adds that a successful logistics park has additional characteristics: access to a major container seaport, an intermodal facility serviced by Class I railroad, a minimum of 1,000 acres of total land, US Customs clearance services, Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) status, strong local market access (e.g., major metropolitan area), nearby access to north/south and/or east/west interstate highways, and access to a strong local labor pool.
Although inland ports have been around since the Virginia Port Authority (VPA) opened its 161-acre Virginia Inland Port (VIP) in1989 in Front Royal, VA some 70 miles west of Washington, DC, inland ports are now coming of age. Today inland ports are being developed to operate similarly to VIP’s: an intermodal container transfer facility that provides an interface between truck and rail for the transport of ocean-going containers to and from the ports of Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton Roads. The idea is to ship containers by the less expensive means of rail to locations where they can be trucked shorter distances.
Cross defines such projects as akin to “oceanfront property.” By locating close to an inland port, a company can reduce its drayage costs. The savings can be considerable—as high as $1 million to $3 million per year, he claims.
“Companies, especially in the Western United States, are looking at all components: transportation, drayage costs, labor, real estate costs,” Cross says. “All together, these equations call for an inland location.”
INTERMODAL ORIENTED
California, especially, is seeing its share of logistics parks and inland ports. These offer an alternative to California’s congested and expensive locations near Los Angeles/Long Beach. Driving their development in California is that state’s overwhelming importation of Asian imports. Despite its 15,000+ miles of highways and freeways, 12 cargo airports, 11 cargo seaports, 18 foreign trade zones, 42 enterprise zones, and 11 cargo seaports, California’s infrastructure is bursting at the seems handling increasing international trade.
Consequently, The Allen Group has developed two logistics parks in California’s Central Valley: International Trade and Transportation Center (ITTC) and MidState 99 Distribution Center.
ITTC is a 700 acre industrial park with some 2 million square feet in Bakersfield in
“Today development companies are trying to take land acquisition away from high cost and high congested areas,” observes Jon C. Cross, spokesman for The Allen Group, a private development company in San Diego. The company is developing significant inland ports and logistics parks.
INLAND PORT DEFINED
The Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas in Austin defines an inland port as a “site located away from traditional land, air and coastal borders with the vision to facilitate and process international trade through strategic investment in multi-modal transportation assets and by promoting value-added services as goods move through the supply chain.”
Cross adds that a successful logistics park has additional characteristics: access to a major container seaport, an intermodal facility serviced by Class I railroad, a minimum of 1,000 acres of total land, US Customs clearance services, Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) status, strong local market access (e.g., major metropolitan area), nearby access to north/south and/or east/west interstate highways, and access to a strong local labor pool.
Although inland ports have been around since the Virginia Port Authority (VPA) opened its 161-acre Virginia Inland Port (VIP) in1989 in Front Royal, VA some 70 miles west of Washington, DC, inland ports are now coming of age. Today inland ports are being developed to operate similarly to VIP’s: an intermodal container transfer facility that provides an interface between truck and rail for the transport of ocean-going containers to and from the ports of Norfolk, Newport News and Hampton Roads. The idea is to ship containers by the less expensive means of rail to locations where they can be trucked shorter distances.
Cross defines such projects as akin to “oceanfront property.” By locating close to an inland port, a company can reduce its drayage costs. The savings can be considerable—as high as $1 million to $3 million per year, he claims.
“Companies, especially in the Western United States, are looking at all components: transportation, drayage costs, labor, real estate costs,” Cross says. “All together, these equations call for an inland location.”
INTERMODAL ORIENTED
California, especially, is seeing its share of logistics parks and inland ports. These offer an alternative to California’s congested and expensive locations near Los Angeles/Long Beach. Driving their development in California is that state’s overwhelming importation of Asian imports. Despite its 15,000+ miles of highways and freeways, 12 cargo airports, 11 cargo seaports, 18 foreign trade zones, 42 enterprise zones, and 11 cargo seaports, California’s infrastructure is bursting at the seems handling increasing international trade.
Consequently, The Allen Group has developed two logistics parks in California’s Central Valley: International Trade and Transportation Center (ITTC) and MidState 99 Distribution Center.
ITTC is a 700 acre industrial park with some 2 million square feet in Bakersfield in
