Baton Rouge West DC, Port Allen, Louisiana

HSA Commercial Real Estate’s Craig Phillips, Executive Vice President, Development, announced today that The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) has signed a lease for 103,900 square feet at 1870 Grand Terre Blvd., in the Baton Rouge West Distribution Center, an HSA Commercial development in Port Allen, La. Midland, Mich.-based Dow, an international manufacturer and distributor of chemicals and components used as raw materials for consumer products, will take occupancy on March 1. The new facility will allow Dow to save on its shipping costs by streamlining distribution from its manufacturing plants elsewhere in Louisiana, and the use of state-of-the-art racking systems will enable the firm to fully utilize Baton Rouge West’s 30-foot clear heights to consolidate its inventory.

“We’re excited to add Dow to the outstanding roster of national tenants that we’re fortunate to have in our Baton Route West development,” said Craig Phillips of HSA Commercial Real Estate. “This transaction, one of the largest Class A leases completed in the past several years in this market, brings us to 100% occupancy in our Building I. We’d like to thank Jeff Cutler from CBRE for his efforts and professionalism in representing Dow as well as Brent Garrett from the Beau Box team.”

HSA Commercial developed the 2-building, 495,000-square-foot Baton Rouge West Distribution Center in 2008. Located one mile from Interstate 10, near the furthest inland deep-water port on the Mississippi River, Baton Rouge West provides a distribution hub for the South. The development features 30-foot clear heights, 80 exterior truck docks, 16 drive-in doors, and 50’ column bay spacing. Current tenants include: Iron Mountain, Carrier, LKQ, CTDI, Whirlpool, TD Williamson and NSORO.

“The Dow Chemical Company has been an asset to south Louisiana for decades, and we’re excited they’ve chosen Baton Rouge West to further expand their Louisiana operations,” said Brent Garrett, SIOR from Beau Box Commercial Real Estate, who represented the property’s owner and developer, HSA Commercial Real Estate.  “This is also a good indicator for the future health of the Baton Rouge MSA industrial market.”