EL PASO, TX — In response to the rapidly increasing demand for industrial space in El Paso, VanTrust Real Estate, LLC (VanTrust), a full-service commercial real estate development company, has broken ground on Phase II of its 59-acre speculative logistics park. This final phase will add two additional buildings totaling 483,698 square feet to the area and comes on the heels of Phase I's 100 percent occupancy. The Logistics Park is located between Mercantile Avenue and Paseo Del Este Boulevard, near Bill Burnett Drive.

"For the past decade, the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez, Mexico region has experienced steady industrial growth, but in recent years, its undeniable strategic advantages have become even more attractive, making the industrial market one of the hottest in the nation," said Josh Meredith, Director of Development at VanTrust. "For example, in just a few months post-completion, we leased over half a million square feet of industrial space in Phase I of the El Paso Logistics Park. Because of this, we only predict that Phase II will follow at an equally impressive rate."

Considered the world's largest bi-national border community, the "Borderplex" region, comprised of El Paso and Juarez, is complete with five international points of entry, two international airports, and access to interstate rail lines. In fact, of the nearly $500 billion worth of goods and services traded between the United States and Mexico each year, the El Paso/Juarez region accounts for 20 percent of the exchange, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. This has contributed greatly to El Paso's continued record-setting industrial demand, encouraging over 300 Fortune 1000 companies to invest in the area in recent years.

Due to this strategic geographic location, in just the first quarter of 2022 alone, the El Paso industrial market saw more than 945,575 square feet of net absorption and just under 1.6 million square feet of leasing activity. During the same timeframe, the market-wide vacancy rate fell by 160 basis points (bps) compared to Q4 2021, now at a record low of 1.5 percent, according to CBRE.

Tenants of the El Paso Logistics Park are conveniently located within five miles of the Zaragoza Bridge, one of the country's busiest international points of commercial entry. In addition, the Logistics Park has direct access to I-10, the fourth-longest interstate in the nation that extends cross-country from the Pacific Ocean to Jacksonville, Florida. Located within Foreign Trade Zone No. 68, the El Paso Logistics Park provides all industrial residents with tax and duty exemptions on eligible inventory. Upon completion of Phase II in April of 2023, the El Paso Logistics Park will total nearly one million square feet across six buildings.