Sprouts to double, move hub to Wilmer in multimillion dollar deal

January 6, 2014

Candace Carlisle
Dallas Business Journal

Arizona-based Sprouts Farmers Market plans to more than double its distribution hub in North Texas with a move to a Wilmer facility the grocer is spending millions to convert into a climate-controlled warehouse.
 

The natural foods grocer has signed a long-term lease for 117,000 square feet at 101 Sunridge Blvd. in southern Dallas County. The majority of the space will be converted into a climate-controlled cooler. About 5,000 square feet of the building will hold a small office.

"It's incredibly difficult to find cooler space in Dallas-Fort Worth; you have very limited options," Kevin Mackey, a vice president for TIG Real Estate Services, a broker representing Sprouts in the real estate deal told the Dallas Business Journal.  "The landlords are understanding there's a need and demand for freezer cooler space and the supply is limited," Mackey told me. "They are converting distribution and dry warehouse space to become a little bit more attractive to tenants in Dallas-Fort Worth."
 

Mackey and Tom Smolik of TIG Real Estate Services represented Sprouts. CBRE's Steve Berger and Dave Anderson represented the landlord, US Industrial REIT II, an affiliate of USAA Real Estate Company.
 

As part of the move, the City of Wilmer gave Sprouts a 70 percent tax abatement on business personal property in the distribution center.
 

Sprouts plans to move its operations to Wilmer upon completion of the conversion project scheduled for the end of the first quarter. The move will leave the company's existing 45,000-square-foot facility in Grand Prairie on the market for sublease.  Mackey and Smolik are marketing the Grand Prairie facility, which is at 1125 Isuzu Pkwy.
 

The grocer went public in August 2013. Sprouts has more than 160 retail stores throughout the United States. The North Texas distribution center will serve Dallas, Houston and other Texas cities.

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2014/01/07/sprouts-to-double-move-hub-to-dallas.html