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East Coast Commerce Center. Image courtesy of Hanover County Economic Development
SanMar Corp. has selected Virginia’s Greater Richmond area to be the home of its flagship distribution center on the East Coast. The Issaquah, Wash.-based company, which holds the distinction of being the largest supplier of wholesale imprintable clothing and accessories in the U.S., leased a new 1.1 million-square-foot warehouse near Ashland, in Hanover County, and will invest $50 million to establish operations at the site.
Although the Richmond area is an increasingly powerful magnet for industrial-space users, SanMar’s decision to locate in Virginia was not a foregone conclusion; the state competed with North Carolina for the lucrative project.
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Various agencies joined forces to offer SanMar incentives: The Virginia Economic Development Partnership, Hanover County and The Port of Virginia all courted the company, which is eligible to receive benefits from the Port of Virginia Economic and Infrastructure Development Zone Grant Program. At full capacity, SanMar’s facility will be the site of 1,000 new jobs.
The first of three speculative industrial buildings
The warehouse is part of the $100 million East Coast Commerce Center, Equity Industrial Partners Corp. and Raith Capital Partners’ nearly 200-acre industrial campus. The structure SanMar leased is the park’s first speculative building and delivered in the summer of 2022. Becknell Industrial served as the developer of the facility, which features 36-foot ceilings, LED lighting, cross-dock loading and parking accommodations for trailers and automobiles.
The campus boasts a key location just off Interstate 95, less than 30 miles from Richmond International Airport and Richmond Marine Terminal. The property is also within roughly 100 miles of the thriving Port of Virginia in Norfolk. Upon full completion, East Coast Commerce Center will feature an additional two buildings totaling 465,000 square feet.
A bustling hub
Hanover County has become a regional hub for the U.S. supply chain, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin said in a prepared statement. Securing SanMar’s flagship distribution center highlights the state’s strategic location, strong infrastructure and workforce as critical decision factors for logistics operations, he added.
Fundamentals in metropolitan Richmond’s industrial real estate market support the area’s status as a high-demand logistics destination. “In the final quarter of 2022, as developer interest and tenant demand remained strong, annual industrial completions and positive net absorption cruised to all-time highs while vacancy dipped to all-time lows,” according to a CBRE report.
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