Borderlands Mexico: Developers bullish on Texas logistics real estate

“High-quality warehouse space on the U.S.-Mexico border is critical infrastructure for the growing trend of nearshoring that is transforming global supply chains in real time,” Dyer said. “At OCP, we believe South Texas will play an important role in the North American supply chain for the next 20 years and beyond.”

In September, OCP broke ground on a 160,000-square-foot Class A building in Capote. The building features a 36-inch clearance height for racking, a dock door, a truck court for trailer storage, and secure truck parking.

The eighth building in the park is scheduled to be completed in June. When completed, the park will have 1.1 million square feet of industrial space.

Capote International Business Park aims to take advantage of the 1,000 to 1,500 commercial trucks that travel between the United States and Mexico each day.

Far Reynosa International Bridge trade volume reached $45.8 billion in 2023. The bridge connects Farr to Reynosa, Mexico, a major manufacturing center in the country.

There are more than 240 maquiladoras in the Reynosa region with 174,000 employees. Maquiladoras are primarily located along the border and are defined as factories in Mexico operated by foreign companies and exporting products to that company's country.

International companies with maquiladora operations in Reynosa include TRW Automotive, LG, Jabiru Circuit, Bissell, Maytag, Nokia, Panasonic, Delphi, Brunswick, Emerson, and Black + Decker.

Dyer said many of the companies expanding or looking for space in the Rio Grande Valley are already in Mexico.

“Most of the nearshoring activity in the valley is driven by companies with existing locations on the Mexican side,” he said. Nearshoring is still in its infancy, so they are just starting to ramp up their operations. It appears both the manufacturer and his 3PL, already based in Reynosa, need more space on the U.S. side. ”

Major goods that crossed the Far Reynosa Bridge last year included exports to Mexico such as gasoline ($3.2 billion), liquefied natural gas and oil ($2.1 billion), and pork ($652 million). was. Imports include television and computer monitors ($1.9 billion), avocados ($1.8 billion), and insulated cable wire ($1.5 billion).

“We do think there is a demand for fur,” Dyer said. “Farr is one of the biggest intersections for fresh produce. It's a space we don't play in right now. We only do dry storage and logistics space. Because of the demand for dry space, we're turning to third-party logistics providers. and manufacturers are mixed.

Capote International Business Park actually began in 2007, with the first building constructed by Nick's father and grandfather, Phil Dyer and Newt Dyer. Capote is built on farmland that Newtdyer acquired in his 1960s.

“My grandfather Newt Dyer was a farmer in the Rio Grande Valley. He owned farmland in a remote part of South Texas near the border at the time,” Nick Dyer said. “And he said in the 1990s, the U.S. and Mexican governments built the Far Reynosa Bridge there. So my grandfather and father came up with the idea of ​​building a business park here to attract all the commerce coming from Mexico. I got an idea.”

The park was named by Newt Dyer, who wanted to preserve some of the history of the land in the area.

“Capote was a small agricultural support community in the area in the early to mid-20th century,” Nick Dyer said. “Eventually, it was abandoned. My grandfather Newt wanted to keep a piece of that history and named his farming operation 'Capote Farms,' which led to the naming of the park. ”

Newt and Phil Dyer have built six buildings together in about 12 years, the last in 2017. Nick Dyer and Pollock picked up the baton and continued to develop the Capote International Business Park.

“We bring greater capital relationships and more institutional real estate experience to the table,” Nick Dyer said. “We are focused on industrial projects in South Central Texas.”

In addition to Capote International Business Park, OCP is developing projects in Laredo and is considering potential projects in El Paso and Brownsville, Texas.

“Brownsville continues to be a place that intrigues us,” Nick Dyer said. “There's a lot of cross-border activity going on between Brownsville and Matamoros. And there's kind of a wild card, and that's the Port of Brownsville.”

The Port of Brownsville is located at the southernmost tip of Texas along the Gulf of Mexico. It is the only deep-water port on the border and a major trade channel between Texas and Mexico.

“The Port of Brownsville has two new liquefied natural gas plants under construction in the area, so there will be a lot of construction activity,” Nick Dyer said. “This port is generating more containers and commercial trade in and out of the region. I think that's an untapped potential and something that hasn't been realized yet.”

Waabi opens self-driving truck terminal near Dallas

Self-driving trucking operator Wabi has relocated to its flagship self-driving truck terminal in Lancaster, Texas, according to a news release.

The 8-acre terminal includes multiple acres for trailer parking, 24,000 square feet of office and maintenance shop, high-speed data offloading, fueling station, truck weigh scale, and dedicated pre-trip and post-trip inspection areas It is.

The terminal will serve as Wahbi's Texas headquarters and “enable continued commercial expansion in the region,” the company said. Lancaster is approximately 26 miles south of Dallas.

“Texas is important to our company as it is home to our first commercial operations and is home to several important transportation routes,” Raquel Urtasun, founder and CEO of Waabi, said in a statement. It's a great place.” “As we use this facility to expand our operations to continue to push the boundaries of this industry, we see this facility playing a critical role not only in the future of Waabi, but also in the future of self-driving trucking.” That's what I think.

Toronto-based Waabi was founded in June 2021. The company uses generative AI to develop self-driving trucks.

New Zealand logistics company invests in Texas facility

New Zealand-based logistics company Mainfreight has signed a lease for a 62,000-square-foot cargo terminal in Haslett, Texas, according to the Dallas Business Journal.

The terminal will feature 86 dock doors, 20,000 square feet of office space, and trailer parking. It will be built on a 21.3-acre site approximately 26 miles north of Fort Worth. The site is near the BNSF intermodal transportation facility and Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport.

The terminal will be Maine Cargo's first facility in Texas, with cargo services ranging from air and ocean containers to warehousing and distribution. It is scheduled to be completed in December.

Mainfreight Ltd. is based in Auckland and has 342 branches worldwide. The company has approximately 11,000 employees.

Tier 1 automotive supplier expands in northern Mexico

Kongsberg Automotive has opened a 166,840 square foot factory in the Mexican city of Ramos Arizpe, approximately 296 miles from Laredo, Texas.

The facility will produce flow control systems, high-performance hoses, powertrains for commercial vehicles and electric vehicle applications.

“The Ramos Arizpe facility not only strengthens our global footprint, but also supports our ambitious plans to continue doubling our flow control systems business in North America,” said President and Chief Executive Officer CEO Linda Nyquist Evenrude said in a statement.

Kongsberg Automotive is a global Tier 1 automotive supplier headquartered in Zurich. The company opened its first factory in Ramos Arizpe in 2018.