Jacksonville’s VanTrust Real Estate LLC team has a big play in Savannah, about 140 miles north in South Georgia.
VanTrust is developing discount retailer Burlington’s largest distribution center at 2 million square feet at Interstate West Industrial Park.
That’s about twice the size of Jacksonville’s largest Amazon.com and Sam’s Club distribution centers, with two of those in VanTrust’s North Jacksonville industrial parks.
And the build-to-suit Burlington warehouse will be VanTrust’s largest in the Southeast region to date.
“By establishing its presence in this prime location, Burlington is poised to make a significant economic impact and contribute to the continued growth of the region,” said Marc Munago, VanTrust executive vice president, Florida, in a Dec. 13 new release.
Munago leads the VanTrust Jacksonville office and is responsible for multiple markets throughout the Southeast, including InterstateWest.
“We are certain Burlington will thrive in this region and VanTrust is happy to aid in their expansion,” he said.
Burlington CEO Michael O’Sullivan and CFO Kristin Wolfe said in the retailer’s fourth-quarter earnings call with analysts March 7 that it would open the distribution center in the Southeast in 2026 as it expands its store network, reported the supplychaindive.com industry website.
Wolfe said the “highly automated distribution center” would be about twice the size of its next-largest facility and it will be designed for its off-price business.
Wolfe said Burlington plans to spend $750 million in capital expenditures this year as it builds more productive distribution centers.
It wants to open 100 stores a year.
The site said this year that Burlington wants to make its distribution centers more productive.
The project
VanTrust announced Dec. 13 it would develop the 2 million-square-foot warehouse for Burlington Stores Inc.
VanTrust said it is the fourth and final project on the 515-acre industrial park that broke ground in 2021. Colliers handles leasing at the park.
The park has access to Interstate 16 and is 22 miles from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, the Port of Savannah and 2 miles from the $7.6 billion Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America EV and battery plant under construction for completion in 2025.
VanTrust said the 637,868-square-foot Building A and the 992,000-square-foot Building B have space available for lease.
The almost 1.16 million-square-foot Building C has been leased to The Webstaurant Store Inc. restaurant supplier.
Construction for Building D started in the fall of 2023 and is expected to be finished by May 2025. That 2,057,067-square-foot building is the one Burlington will lease.
Colliers Savannah Principals Danny Chase and David Sink represented VanTrust as the listing agent.
JLL Executive Managing Directors Chris Tomasulo in Atlanta and Bennett Rudder in Savannah represented Burlington.
Evans General Contractor is constructing the project. Pieper O’Brien Herr is the architect. Both are active in Jacksonville projects, too.
VanTrust and Jacksonville
Kansas City, Missouri-based VanTrust Real Estate LLC is a full-service real estate development company that buys and develops real estate assets for the Van Tuyl family portfolio.
Its real estate services include acquisition, disposition, development, development services and asset management.
It works with office, industrial, multifamily, retail, institutional, governmental, hospitality and recreational projects.
Its offices are in Jacksonville, Dallas, Phoenix and Columbus, Ohio.
In Jacksonville, VanTrust is developing the seven-building, 3 million-square-foot Imeson Park South on 215 acres in North Jacksonville.
Building E there is a 1 million-square-foot building for Sam’s Club, the wholesale membership club division of global merchandiser Walmart Inc.
Imeson Park South is south of VanTrust’s completed 156-acre Imeson Park.
Imeson Park comprises four buildings totaling about 2.5 million square feet, including a 1.1 million-square-foot Amazon.com fulfillment center.
Both properties are north of Zoo Parkway, east of Main Street and Interstate 95 and west of I-295.
JLL is the leasing agent for both.
About Burlington
Burlington Stores is based in Burlington, New Jersey.
The off-price retailer of branded apparel, footwear, accessories and home merchandise reported fiscal 2023 net sales of $9.7 billion.
It operated 1,007 stores as of Feb. 3 in 46 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, principally under the name Burlington Stores.
The company says its stores offer “in-season, fashion-focused merchandise at up to 60% off other retailers’ prices, including women’s ready-to-wear apparel, menswear, youth apparel, baby, beauty, footwear, accessories, home, toys, gifts and coats.”
It has 101 stores in Florida, including six area locations in Gateway Town Center, Argyle Village Shopping Center, Regency Plaza, Old St Augustine Plaza, River City Marketplace and Saint Johns.
The newest store, Gateway Town Center, opened Nov. 10 in Brentwood. That came soon after Burlington opened Nov. 3 in Argyle Village Shopping Center in Southwest Jacksonville, relocating from a site about a mile away.
Burlington Stores has five distribution centers with two on the East Coast in Edgewater Park and Burlington, New Jersey.
The three West Coast distribution centers are in San Bernardino, Redlands and Riverside, California.
The five distribution centers, from 648,000 to 1 million square feet, occupy 4,106,000 square feet, and each includes processing, shipping and storage capabilities.
Burlington says in its annual Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it entered into a lease during fiscal 2021 for an additional distribution center in Logan, New Jersey, occupying about 1.03 million square feet. It was used for storage and basic manual processing during fiscal 2023 and is expected to be fully operational during fiscal 2024.
Burlington also operates five smaller supporting warehouse of 394,000 to 543,000 square feet near the larger five distribution centers.
It says in the filing that it also entered into a lease — with a purchase option — during fiscal 2023 for the 2,057,000-square-foot Georgia distribution center that will be fully operational during fiscal 2026.