U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and officials from across the nation attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility, a $1.567-billion project that will double the footprint of the Port of Long Beach’s existing rail yard from 82 acres to 171 acres. 

Pier B will be built in phases, with construction scheduled for completion by 2032. The project will more than triple the Port’s capacity for on-dock rail to 4.7 million twenty-foot equivalent units per year, reducing emissions and stress on the local and regional road network, according to the Port.

“The Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility will add 130,000 feet of new tracks, build 36 new support tracks and more than double the number of trains leaving the Port to 17 per day,” said Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero. “These improvements will benefit the entire U.S. supply chain and get us closer to the operational and environmental transformation into a zero-emissions port.”

CenterSquare Investment Management and PAGEWOOD have joined forces to acquire Gateway Industrial Commons, a 621,000-square-foot industrial services facility (ISF) portfolio. ISFs are typically truck terminals, material and container storage yards, and equipment maintenance facilities.

Comprised of 46 buildings spanning nine properties in the NW submarket in Houston, the Portfolio caters to a diverse array of service-oriented tenants and accommodates users of various sizes, with spaces ranging from 1,000-30,000 square feet.

New Service Industrial inventory remains limited, due to both high barriers to entry and rising construction costs, positioning sector fundamentals to remain favorable for the foreseeable future. 

CenterSquare and PAGEWOOD intend to address deferred maintenance and make a range of capital improvements throughout the properties. The JV says with improved aesthetics and institutional management of operations, the Portfolio will be positioned to significantly increase the in-place rental rates to align with prevailing market rates and drive meaningful growth of net operating income.