An Atlanta-based industrial real estate development and acquisition firm is launching its next Memphis speculative industrial project. 

Robinson Weeks Partners will build a 234,360-square-foot spec warehouse  at 6401 E. Shelby Drive.

The Shelby Drive build is the third project in the Memphis area for Robinson Weeks, which entered the Memphis market in 2018. At that time, the firm was the first to launch a new spec warehouse in Memphis since before the Great Recession. 

“We really like Memphis long term,” Tyler Jones, SVP of acquisitions and development at Robinson Weeks, said. “It’s a market that’s a priority for us to maintain a development pipeline. We think that there’s a lot of logistics advantages to having a presence in the Memphis market. We’re long-term believers.” 

The new warehouse will be known as Southridge Crossing, and construction begins next month. According to Jones, the plan is to deliver the warehouse by the end of the year. 

Southridge Crossing will feature office space, 42 dock doors with two drive-in doors, and will have the goal of being “move-in ready” on completion. 

Robinson Weeks’ other two projects in Memphis were able to sell quickly. Memphis Global Crossing I was leased by DHL and Memphis Global Crossing II sold to MaxTool. 

Kemp Conrad, principal at Cushman & Wakefield/Commercial Advisors is overseeing leasing at Southridge Crossing. 

Jones said that the current project is unlikely to be the last for the firm, as interest in the city continues to grow. 

“From a user standpoint in Memphis, it’s a well-established logistics market and growing from an investor standpoint,” Jones said. “I think you’re seeing new capital and institutional capital start to recognize how valuable it is as a logistics hub.”

Stephen MacLeod, Reporter, Memphis Business Journal