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Morrison Milling leases spot at Granite Point
January 26, 2007
By Dawn Cobb / Business Editor, Denton Record Chronicle

Granite Properties recently leased the first 60,000 square feet of Denton's newest business park on Interstate 35-West.

The lease agreement with Morrison Milling marked a milestone for the company planning to build at least 3 million square feet of industrial space in North Texas.

Granite Point, which now has 297,500 square feet on the ground, is projected to be at least 1 million square feet at build-out on the 100-acre property near Denton Municipal Airport.

"We're excited," said Jeff Jackson, industrial leasing manager for Granite Properties. "What a great home run to hit for the first deal."

Jackson said the longtime Denton milling company, bought last year by San Antonio-based C.H. Guenther & Son, was looking to consolidate its current distribution space in Denton.

Guenther officials agreed.

"It's purely from an efficiency aspect," said Steve Phillips, vice president for human resources for Guenther, of the decision to consolidate two distribution sites into one. "It just makes a whole lot more sense to us."

Morrison Milling had leased more space elsewhere, Jackson said.

"But to be able to put it all in one place was real appealing," he added.

Granite was the likely choice due to a lack of large available industrial-type space in the city, officials said.

"We do have space available, but unfortunately we've never had the amount of space Granite is able to provide in one spot," said Linda Ratliff, director of economic development for the City of Denton. "A lot of the requests that we receive are for 50,000 square feet to 100,000 square feet."

Ratliff said the location of the distribution center also is key.

"It's an excellent location. It puts them right there at the I-35W, I-35E split," she said. "I'm sure that's something that they took into consideration."

Granite officials, who announced the park's development in September 2004, have projected build-out in the next four to five years in what they have foreseen as a promising market. The company also has business parks in Flower Mound and Fort Worth.

"There'll be something else soon," Ratliff said, adding that a number of prospects have looked at the business park and have expressed interest.

Jackson agreed.

"We hope to get one or two more deals," he said regarding the next construction phase for the park. "Obviously the size of those deals dictates when we start the next phase."

DAWN COBB can be reached at 940-566-6879. Her e-mail address is dcobb@dentonrc.com.