From Sunday's NYT Real estate section (link may require registration but it is free and I hope link works since this is the first time I am trying one on the new system):
Strong Demand for Industrial Sites With Rail Links
By ANTOINETTE MARTIN
Published: March 14, 2004
INDUSTRIAL brokers say they have first-hand evidence of a back-to-the-rails movement in the freight industry in New Jersey: sites with rail connections are hot properties.
Over the years, rail had become somewhat outmoded because of its set schedule of delivery times, observed Frank Caccavo, a Cushman & Wakefield broker. "There was a time when rail companies did not fully participate in the time sensitivity of delivery," Mr. Caccavo said delicately. "With the modern manufacturing supply chain, from just-in-time production to the reduce-your-inventory model of warehousing, the handle-pack-reship mode of operation has been better suited to trucking in many ways."
But he and other brokers point out that it has always been cheaper and more efficient to ship heavy bulk items by rail — and now that some improvements have been made in rail delivery, certain industries are simply demanding it.
"We are seeing a tremendous demand for rail-served buildings right now," said Robert C. Kossar of Binswanger/Klatskin in Teterboro. "I have seen nothing like it in my 15 years in the business." Mr. Kossar said he was about to close a deal in the Newark area for a grocery concern, recently closed one just over the border in Eastern Pennsylvania for a lumber company and is currently searching for 250,000-square-foot rail-served buildings in New Jersey for a paper producer and for a recycling company.
"We used to see a lot of times when rail was a `nice to have' when a company was looking for a site," Mr. Kossar said. "More and more now, it's a `must.' "
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/14/reale ... 4NJZO.html
Strong Demand for Industrial Sites With Rail Links
By ANTOINETTE MARTIN
Published: March 14, 2004
INDUSTRIAL brokers say they have first-hand evidence of a back-to-the-rails movement in the freight industry in New Jersey: sites with rail connections are hot properties.
Over the years, rail had become somewhat outmoded because of its set schedule of delivery times, observed Frank Caccavo, a Cushman & Wakefield broker. "There was a time when rail companies did not fully participate in the time sensitivity of delivery," Mr. Caccavo said delicately. "With the modern manufacturing supply chain, from just-in-time production to the reduce-your-inventory model of warehousing, the handle-pack-reship mode of operation has been better suited to trucking in many ways."
But he and other brokers point out that it has always been cheaper and more efficient to ship heavy bulk items by rail — and now that some improvements have been made in rail delivery, certain industries are simply demanding it.
"We are seeing a tremendous demand for rail-served buildings right now," said Robert C. Kossar of Binswanger/Klatskin in Teterboro. "I have seen nothing like it in my 15 years in the business." Mr. Kossar said he was about to close a deal in the Newark area for a grocery concern, recently closed one just over the border in Eastern Pennsylvania for a lumber company and is currently searching for 250,000-square-foot rail-served buildings in New Jersey for a paper producer and for a recycling company.
"We used to see a lot of times when rail was a `nice to have' when a company was looking for a site," Mr. Kossar said. "More and more now, it's a `must.' "
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/14/reale ... 4NJZO.html
