Two Logistics Company Leases Bring Merchant Industrial to 94% Occupancy in El Paso, Texas

CBRE and ViaWest Group announce continued leasing activity at Merchant Industrial, a 245,745-sq.-ft., multi-tenant industrial park in El Paso, Texas.

Jichasa, a trade and door-to-door logistics services firm, leased 81,556 sq. ft., which included a 40,400-sq.-ft. expansion. This marks the second time the El Paso-based firm has doubled in size at the property in as many years. The firm has provided logistics operations and distribution of product across the sister cities of El Paso and Cd. Juárez for more than a decade. Jichasa's El Paso operations support a powdered milk supplier in Chihuahua, Mexico. The company is also involved in facilitating the transfer and storage between multinational companies, which include companies dedicated to the manufacturing industry.

Tennessee-based Roane Transportation also leased 25,000-sq.-ft. The company provides warehousing and transportation services for the maquiladora industry, thus the property's fenced and secure truck court, access to Interstate 10 and dock door ratio were all attractive characteristics.

"We are thrilled to have the capacity for both growth and expansion in the project between our new tenant, Roane, and our current tenant, Jichasa," said Clare Lydon, real estate manager of the project with ViaWest Group. "We have worked diligently to create a product that would be well received in the market and we are happy to see those efforts pay off through our partnership with these tenants."

Arturo De la Mora of CBRE's Industrial & Logistics division in El Paso represented the landlord, ViaWest Group.

"Occupancy at Merchant Industrial is 94 percent, up from approximately 50 percent when ViaWest acquired the properties in 2015," said Mr. De la Mora. "Repositioning efforts and healthy overall market activity are supporting the activity and continued interest from existing and new tenants."

About CBRE Group, Inc.
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE: CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world's largest commercial real estate services and investment firm (based on 2016 revenue). The company has more than 75,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate investors and occupiers through approximately 450 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers a broad range of integrated services, including facilities, transaction and project management; property management; investment management; appraisal and valuation; property leasing; strategic consulting; property sales; mortgage services and development services. Please visit our website at www.cbre.com.

About ViaWest Group
Established in 2003, ViaWest Group is a Phoenix-based full service commercial real estate acquisition, development, property management, investment and advisory firm. ViaWest Group has been one of the fastest growing real estate investment companies in the Valley over the last few years with over $300MM of acquisitions. Since inception, ViaWest has been involved in over $800MM of acquisitions. ViaWest Group is looking to acquire and develop more office, industrial, retail and commercial land parcels in the Southwestern United States. Visit www.viawestgroup.com or contact Steven Schwarz at (602) 957-8300 ext 102, sschwarz@viawestgroup.com or Gary Linhart at (602) 957-8300 ext 101, glinhart@viawestgroup.com.

More Info: http://www.cbre.us/elpaso